Beyond the Bounds
by CruelRuin
Summary: Jaune Arc's life takes a turn for the worse before he can ever join Beacon. His dreams of becoming a huntsman almost dashed, his aspirations for the future almost shattered, Jaune finally faces the reality of his situation. He will never become a hunter... without this one pill that suddenly turns a mere human into something... greater. (Jaune on NZT)
1. Chapter 1 - Flicker

**Hello, Everyone.**

 **Recently, I've** _ **really**_ **gotten into the Limitless fandom. I adore both TV series and the movie, which – coincidentally – I would recommend everyone to watch.**

 **So, somewhere inside the back of my mind, I've always had the idea of writing a Jaune-centric fic in first-person, much in the style of Ryuugi's 'The games we play'. I've always wanted to take my stab at a pre-canon Jaune and his development into something greater than his canon counterpart. All I needed was a plot device that enabled rapid growth while bringing up greater questions of morality and testing Jaune's capabilities.**

 **And I found it in NZT, the pivotal plot device of Limitless.**

 **While knowledge of the Movie/TV series isn't necessary at all to read this fic, it will contain Easter eggs for anyone who has. At the end of the chapter, I'll provide a comprehensive explanation of what NZT does. You can skip that – of course – considering the chapter should already make it blatantly obvious.**

 **So, without further ado, let's get to it!**

* * *

"Mr Arc, do you even _want_ to be here?"

My focus shifted back from my daydreams to the current situation. I was in detention, of course, I was. I had spent the better part of my last six months in it. I was failing all my three core modules, and that reflected badly on the institution.

Professor Huber sat in front of me, stoic as always. The reading material for his class lay bared on the mahogany table that lay between him and me. They weren't going to help me answer his question sadly, this one was all on me.

"With all due respect, sir. Who wants to be in detention?" I answered, and his disappointed sigh lets me know that my deflection was something he'd been expecting. The real question was a bit deeper.

"I mean _here_ , Jaune. The Gammon cram school for Hunters and Huntresses." He rephrased, adjusting his round specs on his sharp nose. "By no means is this school cheap, and the steep price is only justified by the sheer calibre of our program."

I nodded, unable to shake his sharp gaze. "I understand that, sir. I'm self-financing, so I respect that fact pretty well."

Huber nodded, "Our program teaches you the entire coursework of a junior huntsman academy like, say, signal, in one year instead of the usual four. As you are now, you don't even have the skills to do the normal course. You've been failing all your modules here, and you haven't even unlocked your Aura yet, while most of the other students are already working on semblance training."

"So I will rephrase myself yet again, do you think you have what it takes to be here?"

I gulped. Huber was pretty much making me face the one question that had been on my mind since I joined here. Except, he didn't really get the context behind it all. I was the only male in a litter of eight, and I was the only one my own parents refused to see becoming a huntsman.

And who could blame them? My sisters had all unlocked their auras by the age of roughly eight. Their semblance soon followed.

I turned seventeen a week back, no update on the Aura front.

What made it worse was the fact that I had practically run away from home. Practically, because my parents knew exactly where I was and what I was doing, but also because I myself refused all funds from them.

Education loans were both a godsend and a curse. They were the only reason I was able I was able to even pay for my school. Living expenditures demanded that I spend all off-class time working.

How was I supposed to keep up with the rest of the class with these metaphorical cuffs on?

Huber apparently noticed my dilemma and – for once – decided to cut me some slack. "Jaune, I understand that this isn't an easy question to answer. Believe it or not, I was once in a very similar position to yours. I decided to step back, and I now serve as a teacher rather than hunting the creatures of Grimm. I'm giving back to society in my own way, and I'm none less important for it."

"Take today off, Jaune. Go back and think. I'll expect an answer by the end of the week."

I hesitantly nodded as I relieved myself of my seat. Quickly gathering up all my reading material, I left the room before Huber could say anything more. As I exited the school building, I failed to notice how my body was shivering – midsummer.

One week to find myself an answer, death had never seemed quite as inviting as today.

* * *

 **Beyond the Bounds**

 **Chapter 1 – Flicker**

* * *

Of course they'd call me at exactly four.

A photo of my parents stared back at me from my phone. I almost cut the call, but knowing my parents, the best course of action was to pick up, lest they sent one of their huntsmen friends in Mistral to give me a disgruntled house visit to see if I was still breathing.

Yes, my parents were paranoid enough for this to be a deduction made from prior experience rather than guesswork.

"Hi there, Jaune!" My dad's ever-cheery tone almost made me retch, but I couldn't let him know of my current predicament. Sure, he would have something constructive to say, but I was pretty sure my call was on the loudspeaker, and that meant that at least my mom was listening in too, and that was discounting the possibility that my sisters might be around too.

And while my Dad was okay with me being in Mistral, alone, the rest of my family was very vehemently against it. Mom was always – and will always be – a worrywart, and my sisters just wanted me to stay out of harm's way.

It was their way of showing love, and I had come to live with it, no matter how prohibitive it may be. I couldn't slight them for it. I was both their youngest and their only son. They had always wanted a son, and it had taken them eight tries to get one.

And they'd do their damn best to keep him safe.

"Hello dad," I replied. I had to maintain an even tone, else my parents would know something was wrong. Seventeen years of living with them might not have taught me much about being a huntsman, but it had taught me quite a bit about how to keep secrets from them.

"How're you doing, kid? The weather up in Mistral treating you nice? You eating well?"

The same questions, every damn time.

"Yes, dad. The weather is fine, Kinda warmer than I'm used to, but I manage well enough. And yes, I'm, getting three meals a day."

They beget the same answer.

"How's school going?"

Now that was new. They never asked about school. Hell, they treated my year in Mistral like some sort of holiday. As far as they were concerned, no Arc had ever gone to cram school, and – as far as they were concerned – no Arc ever would.

Hell, he was pretty sure the cram school accepted him as a student because of the Arc name.

So, there could only be two alternatives here. Either they were finally warming up to my self-imposed exile, or – much more likely – they had just gotten my first semester's results.

"… you got my results, didn't you?"

"Yes."

Fuck.

"Jaune, you have re-sits in all three of your core modules. You didn't even pass your history module. The comments on all three make it pretty clear that you don't have any Idea what you're doing."

I couldn't say anything. Of course, I had no idea what these comments were _exactly_ , but I knew they were anything but flattering. What I didn't expect was for them to just outright say that I'm not needed. Talk about a kick in the balls.

"Also, you told us that you unlocked your aura a week ago, your comments here say that you haven't. Have you been lying to us, son?"

Double fuck.

"Ah… no, dad. The comments were written weeks in advance. I'm actually getting pretty used to this aura business now. I promise, the re-sit will be different."

The sigh I heard from the other side of the receiver told me all I needed to know. My dad didn't believe me one bit.

"Jaune, please don't lie to my face. I know you well enough to know when you're out of your depth. I'm sending my friend White over to meet you tomorrow and get me the truth. I haven't shown your mom the grades yet, but it is only a matter of time till she finds out."

I gulped. If dad's friend saw me as I am right now, it would spell an end to my dreams and aspirations. I'd be back in Vale and my parents would make sure I went to a music school or some shit.

I couldn't allow that.

"Yeah dad, that's fine. I have a very good feeling about the re-sits this week, trust me on this."

It was a white lie, but I put every modicum of my concentration into keeping my voice cheerful enough to sell it.

"Alright, Jaune. White's still going to be visiting you tomorrow evening, though. That's final."

I nodded, even though there was no one there to see me. I had bought myself a day. Now, all I had to do was to go to my job, make dinner, and find a magical benefactor who would help me magically unlock my Aura in a day.

Nothing big.

"Thank you, dad."

He cut the call, something told me that he still didn't believe me. Honestly, a part of myself didn't want to believe I'd just lied to the one person who always supported me unconditionally.

Before I could muse further on the morality of lying to dad, my attention was grabbed by my phone again. A message, this time, from one of my employers. It began all nice and formal, manager-speak at its finest.

But as I read on, it became very apparent that things were a lot worse than the tone of the message let on.

The final straw that broke the camel's back came with the last line, the one where the manager mentioned that the store was going under. I swore the day couldn't get any worse when my father had called, but apparently, it did.

Okay, so I was now out of a job, I was so very close to being out of school.

Well, fuck me over and call me a Grimm.

Okay, so the only way I was going to be able to stay here was if I found a job and unlocked my aura in effectively a day and a half. Sure, I could give up, but could I live with that? Could I live with the knowledge that I didn't even try?

The answer was pretty obvious to me, as I opened my laptop and started running through every job site, trying to find a job that someone like me could sustain.

Thankfully I didn't have to look long.

* * *

"Hello, I'm Jaune Arc, I'm here to apply for the… testing?"

The receptionist looked up from her terminal, her bored expression was almost disconcerting. She took one look at me and handed me a form. "Standard non-disclosure form, you gotta sign it before the doctor will meet you."

I nodded and took a seat. As I read through the form, a little bit of apprehension rose within me. Foreboding words like 'Arrest' and 'Incarceration' struck out to me, but I was a man with little choice. While I had been initially apprehensive about the job, seeing the location definitely laid a little bit of rest to my fears.

The job itself was simple. They wanted to do some human testing for a drug that was already approved by the International Medical Council. It was a week-long job and there wasn't much in the way of requirements. They wanted someone who didn't smoke, drinks or had a record of drug usage.

Enter me.

The payment was fine, hell, it was more than fine. They would pay me – in a week – what my old job paid in a month. Sure, the details of the job were a mystery to me, but this seemed a lot easier than my old job, where I had to be present all the time.

Maybe I could use the time saved to actually study for once, see how much good that did me.

So, I quickly signed the papers and turned them in. The receptionist pushed a buzzer and pointed me to the door. The professionalism set my mind at ease. Of course, this couldn't be some shady operation, they were so professional!

What greeted me as I walked through the door was a simple doctor's office – all machines present and accounted for. Even the doctor looked friendly enough, with his wind-swept brown hair and personable smile.

"Ah, you must be Jaune. Welcome to our little project."

I took the doctor's proffered hand and shook it. The man seemed friendly enough.

"My name is Lucas Grey, but you can call me Luke. Now that we have that out of the way, we should move on to some questions. So, do you smoke or drink?"

I just shook my head, and that was all the man needed.

"Any past drug consumption?"

Another shake.

"Any allergies? Do you have a pacemaker?"

Another shake. This time, no more questions followed. Instead, Lucas chose to write something on the notepad in front of him. He then gave me another one of his nice little smiles before passing me a leaf of pills from his coat pocket.

"Alright. We have you on record for your cleanliness and you have signed the NDA agreement. Here's your batch of NZT. You need to report here once every week so that we can run a full-body checkup on you. Is all this clear?"

I blinked in surprise. "Wait, that's it?"

Lucas nodded. "Yup. I can see you're being truthful. I do have a major in Psychology as well as my Masters in Neuroscience and my General practitioner degree, you know?"

I looked over the leaf of pills. There were 14 pills in there, each transparent. There was no marking on any of the pills, and the counterfoil on the leaf simply had the alphanumeric 'NZT – 48' embossed on it. Hell, the pill looked almost identical to a vinyl pad you could buy in any supermarket.

"So, what do these do? What dosage should I take them in?" I asked. I know this was a generic drug, else they'd need someone with a specific disability to test on, but what did the pill do exactly?

Lucas sighed, "Well, it's a neuro-enhancer, if that makes any sense to you. As for how you should treat it, well, use the pill as a pick-me-up when you're trying to do something way out of your league. Single dosage lasts for twelve hours. We've provided you with fourteen pills, accounting for each and every hour between now and when you will report to us."

I shook my head. "I do like to sleep at night, so what do I do with the extras?"

Lucas threw his hands up in the air and reclined in his seat. "Well, that's up to you. As long as you don't give them to someone else, you should be fine. Again, remember, you signed that NDA form."

I excused myself from the man and walked out of the office. The receptionist apparently wasn't paid enough to see me out, but honestly, I preferred it this way. Being alone gave me time and the avenue to think.

* * *

As I headed towards the library, my mind didn't leave the pills that now rested in my pocket. Pulling out the leaf of medication, I gave it yet another look-over. The packaging was dubious enough to bring doubt to my mind, but not enough to shake the feeling that the anonymity of the packaging was just meant to steer away interest from outsiders.

I took one out as I finally passed into the library and popped it in. Lucas mentioned that it was the ultimate pick-me-up, and I could definitely use something like that in my current situation. The pill was as tasteless as it was colourless.

And then I waited.

And nothing happened.

I rolled my eyes. Exactly what was I expecting? Of course, the drug wasn't even ready yet – hence the testing. I checked myself into the library and picked up a book on aura theory. I didn't even care which one I picked up, but it was heavy as all shit.

I sat down to read it, I chose that one bench away from the main hall, the one where the sun didn't shine. I tried to read the book, but couldn't even get through the Intro. Hell, why did every nonfiction book have to be _this_ dry?

The seat in front of me was taken, and I finally looked up from my book. I surveyed my new reading companion before realizing it was one of the girls from the other class of the cram school. I think her name was Nebula. It was as I was looking at her that I noticed the sudden heat that was creeping up through my body. It wasn't a blush; I knew that much. But I buried my face in the book nonetheless. Sadly, the heat didn't abate.

Instead, it grew. It grew on and on, and then, suddenly, it happened.

The NZT kicked in.

Suddenly, the scales fell from my eyes. The human brain is bloody magical, and we can only access a little bit of it. Sure, that was something I knew, but never had I ever expected that an increase in the amount of allocated thinking-matter would cause such a drastic shift. I couldn't even be sure if I _was_ actually using more of my brain. But something told me that whatever bit I had been using – at least – was no longer as messy as it once was.

If my brain was a maze, it felt like someone had just re-excavated it and added to a much longer, much straighter highway.

And that highway was my body.

Thoughts and memories came to my mind, unbidden. Things that I had once read in a hurry, even the small print on the back of a shampoo bottle I bought last year, I could recite it all verbatim.

And this was just the mental effect. Physically, the drug had given me _much_ more.

Libraries were inherently supposed to be sanctums of silence, but there was always a sort of grey noise that you could hear when inside. I could now effectively cut through that noise; I could make out each individual whisper, each word of every murmured dialogue.

I was connected to the world, and it was fucking magnificent.

I looked at Nebula again. Nebula Violette, I remembered now. Same age as me. Her skin was much duskier than mine, so she was probably from Vacuo, which also explained why she was wearing two layers more than I was. She was reading a book on relationship advice that I remember from my mom's library. Boyfriend issues? Possible. Nebula was one of the stars of the school, what with her top-end grades and her ginormous social signature.

I also remember the book being a sack of shit.

"Excuse me, Nebula?" I ventured. I wanted to test something out, and NZT was telling me that my idea would work. So I went with it. My mind kept telling me that there was no way I'd be able to make conversation with someone as on a different rung of society.

"What do you want, Arc?" She asked. Of course, my infamy preceded me. It was obvious to see. Most of the students from reputed huntsmen families were either parts of the pre-established school system or home-schooled. When the student base realized that an Arc was coming to Gammon, of course, they were nervous.

And then I turned out to be… well… me, and suddenly, everyone treated me like I had just spat on their faces. I brought dishonour to the very idea of huntsmen being 'elites'.

"I just wanted to know why someone with your social aptitude is reading that pile of garbage."

Well, that got the stick out of her ass.

"I-it's none of your problem, loser. What does a no-lifer like you know about maintaining a social life?"

Ooh! Personal insults _and_ deflection. It looks like the problem was something of a secret. My brain was already handing me sorted info on what it could be. Living in a family of hunters, past experience told me that I had seen these symptoms before, much closer to home too.

"let me guess, it's dissonance which is your problem, right?"

Nebula stared at me like I had just grown a second head. "Beg pardon?" She stammered out, and I continued.

"It is very normal for huntsmen to project a fake personality to the world. Being a huntsman means being fearless, it means laughing in the face of danger. Such boisterous personalities make people around them feel at ease. It brings calmness to turmoil-filled hearts, and hence prevents the onset of Grimm."

The fact that Nebula shifted in her seat meant that what I was saying was making her uncomfortable. Visible discomfort from mere words merely cemented the fact that I was headed in the right direction.

"But these personalities are generally mere facades. They are as real as ghosts, sometimes even less. But you like the rush of power you get when others look up to you. You like being fearless in the heart of danger. It is a very admirable trait, after all. But a little part of you keeps gnawing at you. You keep asking yourself whether this is the real you, or whether you've lost yourself to this false bravado you surround yourself with."

Nebula's eyes were stricken with fear. Maybe I'd laid it down too thick, maybe I'd done something wrong, but the computations in my head told me that this was by far the best scenario.

"H-how do you know all this?" a straight question, no demeaning remarks to follow. Oh, she was listening. I had her undivided attention, and the stage was mine.

"I've lived my entire life around huntresses, seen seven of them mature through the exact phase you're now going through. I've seen them all get through it. And there was one factor that made all the difference."

"Time."

Fear turned into confusion, and confusion turned into confrontation within the span of the same second. Anyone else would have missed the brief flash of confusion between the initial and the final reaction, but right now, I wasn't just 'anybody', and hence, I continued.

"The job of a huntsman is a lifelong one. And personality is anything but a fixed attribute. Over time, both your personalities will blend, and whatever comes out of it will definitely be greater than their sum. Your friends probably understand this, and they see you as someone who will one day work tirelessly to protect them. You have to learn to embrace that."

The confrontation disappeared and was replaced with a blank expression that lasted for a couple of seconds. I could have interrupted, but had I, I would have never been graced by the grateful smile that replaced it later.

"Guess I always knew that, just needed someone to say it out loud, didn't I?" She replied. I simply nodded along.

Now, with all that out of the way, my curiosity was sated and I returned to the book. It was still dry, but I had to go through it by the end of the night.

Or did I?

"Coincidentally, you have an unlocked aura, don't you, Nebula?"

The girl nodded, waiting for my next question. She was being rather subservient, but given the magnitude of the problem that I had just simplified for her, such a reaction was a given.

"Yeah, I unlocked it earlier this year. You haven't unlocked yours, have you?"

Right in the pride. Good one, Nebula.

"Yeah, about that. I need to unlock my Aura naturally by tomorrow evening or I'm out of this school. Now, you may understand why I want that, right?"

Nebula stared at me for a good ten seconds, enough to make me slightly self-conscious. "I noticed you say 'Naturally', is there a reason for that?" and there was. While Off-NZT me would have begged Nebula to unlock my Aura, my suddenly-gained perfect recall told me that having your aura unlocked by an outsider can hamper it by up to thirty percent. Combined with my late unlock, that meant I'd miss out on almost fifteen years of aura capacity growth.

If I was to make it to a hunter academy, I couldn't let that happen.

"Personal reasons, let's say. So, I was wondering. Could you help me unlock my Aura?"

Nebula shifted in her seat again. "I don't know how much use I would be…"

I shook my head as fast as I could. "I just need to see how you draw it out, maybe ask a few questions. I think that'll do it for me."

Nebula cocked an eyebrow. "It took me a year of meditation and training to unlock my aura, and you plan to do it in a night?"

I just smiled. "Trust me, Nebula. Today, I feel like I can do anything."

She sighed and got up "Okay then, but not here. Come to my flat, and I'll see what I can do."

I merely followed.

* * *

Turns out that Nebula's house was a lot less girly than I had expected it to be. Given her personality, I'd expected boyband posters and a pop soundtrack. What I got instead was a room full of hunter paraphernalia. There was even a maintenance table for her weapon – a crossbow sword. While I was very interested in knowing how that particular weapon combo worked, I was in here for something else.

"The basics of Aura are simple enough to grasp. Think of it as your soul, but externalized. I personally like to think of it like muscles for the soul. The more you use it, the stronger it grows. The longer you have it, the more it increases in size."

Textbook definition followed by a self-interpretation. It almost felt like she was trying to give me a presentation, like I was a tutor she was trying to impress. It wasn't a thought I hated, but if I had just come here for a four-hour lecture, I'd be wasting my time.

"Can you activate it for me?"

Nebula blinked, probably not expecting me to get to the point this fast. A blush crept up on her face. Why though? I hadn't asked her to strip, I hadn't asked her to do anything intimate in nature.

But then again, I _was_ asking her to bare her soul to me. So I guess there was a fair reason behind her reaction.

"Of course, that's what we're here for." She acquiesced. Now, I'd never seen my parents or my sisters truly 'activate' their auras. They always trained in the family dojo, and it had always been off-limits to me. Well, not always, I did injure myself with a spear once when running through the family compound.

Still, it was rather harsh of my parents to block off that one room for me.

Nebula took one deep breath, and then stopped responding. Nothing happened for a good ten seconds, and then, light began to emanate from her. It was a deep purple colour, her aura. It grew uniformly, taking over her body, engulfing her with its very essence. For lack of a better word, it was…

"… Beautiful." I breathed in, suddenly being left breathless by the awakening of her aura. Nebula – of course – took it as a personal compliment. Even under the purple hue of aura, I could see her face redden.

"So, that's your Aura. It took you a little while to activate it, which means there is something between your initial activation and the final result that causes some hindrance to you."

The blush disappeared, and so did the Aura's hue. It receded till it was barely even visible on her body. At this point, it was both transparent and diminished. Anyone would have missed it, but not him. He could see how the power still clung to her frame.

"And, the fact that this form took you some time to attain means that you aren't quite as proficient with Aura control as you'd like to be."

Nebula took this as a personal insult. "Way to be a jackass, Arc. Why don't you state some more of your 'facts', Mr. 'I have to unlock my aura in less than a day'? See if I help you then."

Okay, damage control time for me.

"I didn't mean any of that as an Insult. I'm just trying to say that you've made a remarkable amount of progress considering how little time has elapsed since you've unlocked your aura."

And – just like that – she was confused again. "Wait, how do you know that it hasn't been long since I activated my aura?"

That was a question that I could most definitely answer. "Well, your initial hesitation was a telling feature. Not only that, but I'm pretty sure you too were quite surprised by the initial gap. Unlike me, though, your confusion – I believe – came from how _fast_ it activated, which shows that you've made progress faster than you yourself expected. You should be proud of yourself"

She rewarded me with a sheepish grin. "Well, when you put it like that…"

"I do, you're doing a very admirable job of self-improvement. Now, if you don't mind, could you answer some questions of mine?" She nodded, and I continued. "Alright, firstly. The gap between your initial command and your aura answering it… what causes that? Are you looking for something within your soul? Or are you trying to find some arbitrary source within your psyche?"

She definitely did not expect my questions to be quite as 'to the point'. I could tell you that she was expecting my questions to be more about how she attained her aura and not about what she did to activate it. I had a hunch that there was a lot less top activating one's aura when one was as attuned to himself or herself as I was thanks to the NZT swimming through my system right now.

I just had to reverse-engineer the process.

"Well, it's a bit of both, really. Think of it like finding the right note in a harmony, or like finding the exact line in a book that you can faintly recall. The more often you do it, the faster you are able to do it. The more your mind remembers. When I first started, it took me over a minute to just find my 'source', as you call it. Now, it takes much less time. By the time I join any of the huntsmen academies, I will make sure it is instant."

I was surprised at how simple all this was – at least as a concept. I could see why it would take months of meditation and practice to attune yourself to your soul… to even guarantee that you could find that elusive 'source'. But this knowledge only reinforced my theory.

Nzt was a fucking wonder. Imagine knowing your body perfectly. Imagine being able to measure the amount of power your hands could produce down to the smallest measurable unit of force. That was what NZT gave me – physically. So, I'd imagine this knowledge of self would also extend to my soul. After all, it was a definitive part of what made me 'me'.

"Thank you for that. One final question. Your aura expanded, and then it settled around your skin. Is that a natural process or did you have to mould it that way?"

Nebula was in her zone now. She'd probably been asking similar questions to her teachers all year long, if not as articulate. Her knowledge of the subject was quite exemplary too. "Okay, so. The purple hue was a byproduct of me trying to force too much aura out too fast. It is an easy way to measure the amount of Aura I have, and I do it to check how much my capacity has grown over time. I can actually completely ignore that step if I wanted, But I decided not to skip it because it might help you in some way or the other."

I could tell that what she said was a lie. Not the first part, of course. The second certainly was. She was definitely trying to show off her 'impressive' aura capacity. After all, who didn't like a sparkly light-show?

"As for the final product, well, Aura self-moulds to the individual's body as a default. My teacher said that most high-level huntsmen can change aura concentrations around their bodies to provide active benefits to strength and resilience."

I made a mental note of that even though I didn't need to. NZT did afford me perfect recall, after all. I had seen video recordings of Huntsmen at professional tournaments, and the ability to shatter earth with a single blow wasn't something a run-of-the-mill hunter could do. The question was, could I?

"Okay, that's all I needed to know. You mind if I give it a try now?"

If Nebula was surprised by my request, she didn't show it. "Sure, go for it. We had like half a dozen people back in class who were self-assured that they would get it in one go. Well, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but none of them did."

I nodded. Normal Jaune would have been cowed by her negativity, but NZT Jaune already had a plan. Already, cogs were turning in my mind – quite literally. I had already learnt how to dissociate my soul and my body. It was rather easy, in retrospect. If my body's reactions were determined by external stimuli, then my soul was probably malleable with respect to my mental reactions. So, having a completely clear mind was step one towards calming my soul.

Now, generally, that was easier said than done. It also explained all the meditation. The easiest way to attain a calm mind was to calm the body. Meditation did both effectively. Thankfully, NZT was a very good replacement for meditation. My mind worked just like I wanted it to.

With my thinking process calmed, step one was over. Now came the trickier bit. Nebula mentioned finding a 'source' in there. Now, how did one go foraging through a soul? Well, the answer was a lot less glamorous than I had imagined. I pretty much had to bring my body 'in tune' with my soul. Now, the process I used to do that was rather complex, so let me simplify it.

Imagine a radio. You know, one of those pre-great war devices that were used for communication before the CCT grid came up? Yeah, those. Now, those devices worked on short-distance invisible waves. The only way to connect to another radio was to make sure both of the devices were on the same frequency. So, spies would sit all day and slowly turn the dials on their radios till they caught on to some broadcasting frequency – which was generally a static frequency provided to soldiers in advance. In theory, my body was the spy radio, and my calm, static soul was the broadcasting radio. So, I kept tuning, bringing my body to different stages of rest till I felt a connection.

And after a mere tenth of a second, I found it.

It was power, pure and unadulterated. It lay there, nestled in the folds of my soul – waiting for me to claim it. Who was I to refuse something that had yearned to embrace me for so long? It was overwhelming, but it was also intriguing.

I had felt a similar signature when Nebula had called on her aura, but this was magnitudes greater than what she had shown mere seconds ago. Was this some kind of joke? Or were Arc genetics already pre-disposed to such potent aura? Well, it would surely explain the prowess of the Arc lineage on the fields of battle they had graced, generation after generation.

But that wasn't my main concern now. Right now, all that mattered was me, and this power that beckoned to me so. I held on to it… figuratively, my soul and body melding into one.

And then, I pulled.

If the appearance of Nebula's aura could be likened to a rush, mine was a full-blown explosion of light. Hell, I saw Nebula cover her eyes as pure white radiance took over her room. The light disappeared as soon as it arrived, and my body was covered in warmth. The comforting, protective feeling my aura provided was a new sensation, albeit a welcome one.

Just like the feeling of smugness that came when I noticed Nebula's panicked, questioning expression. The mouth was ajar, and it was pretty obvious that she was having a very hard time believing what she had just witnessed.

"N-no way…" She whimpered.

"So, Nebula." I locked my gaze with her panicked one and smiled the smuggest smile I was capable of producing.

"What was that about my predicament being an impossibility?"

* * *

"Ughh."

My own pained moan was the first thing I heard as my eyes opened. As I tried to get up from the bed, the sudden emergence of a cranium-splitting headache pushed me right back into it. I groaned again, but this time it was a lot more muffled. Were these the side-effects of NZT? It was a possibility. Hell, I couldn't ever recall what happened after I unlocked my aura. The entire block of memories between then and now were just… missing. Just thinking over the events of yesterday made my headache worse.

They also reminded me that my Aura was now unlocked.

Willing to practice, and remembering that Aura had healing properties, I started looking for the 'source' of my aura. I found it with surprising ease, considering the fact that I was off NZT. I felt the comfortable warmth of my Aura wash over me, and my headache receded till the pain was at a manageable level. Rid of the nuisance, I retreated deeper into my comfortable, purple duvet.

Wait, I didn't have a purple duvet... mine was plain white.

Before I could inquire further, my ruminations were cut short when two slender hands wrapped themselves around me, and the feel of a warm, female body joined that of my aura, draping itself over my chest. The fact that said female was naked, and that it was probably one of the most promising huntsmen in my class did nothing to help the feeling of dread that was slowly coiling in the pit of my stomach.

I almost fucking screamed.

It was then that my scroll started ringing. I quickly picked it up with fumbling hands, only to find that it was just my morning alarm. I quickly closed it and found myself staring at a note attached to it. A voice note, what more. I quickly pressed the scroll to my ear – almost dropping it in the process – right after pressing play.

"Hey Jaune, guess who?"

The voice was definitely mine, but the degree of confidence it held wasn't something I was used to. NZT, what a helluva drug.

"So, considering the events of the night and the level of intoxication I'm feeling right now, I decided it was best to make this little voice note to remind you of what all happened."

There was a little pause here, a nifty way to cut between segments. NZT me was definitely meticulous.

"So, it all began when we unlocked our aura. Nebula was quite distraught, so we decided it would be best to play her up as the amazing teacher whose tutelage had made all this possible. She was right chuffed about it all, and as we planned to leave, she broke out a bottle of what she called 'high quality' rum. Of course, the stuff tasted like bilge-water and it couldn't have been good for our body, so I did exactly what anyone in my situation would do."

Another pause, this one was definitely for dramatic effect. I liked to be over-the-top, and NZT me seemed to have an equal appreciation for all things dramatic.

"I drank it, hell, I finished the whole bottle with her. Trust me, whoever named alcohol 'liquid courage' was definitely on to something."

I rolled my eyes. It hadn't even been a day and I had already broken one of the core tenets of my contract with my current employer. Well, after I took today's NZT, I'd handle it. There was no way that the tests they did would show remains of alcohol from a week back, even he knew that much.

"So, over time, the topic of conversation went back to her moral dilemma. And I started tossing her stories of Amber and Opal from when they were teens. Did some comparisons to how they are now and tossed a few compliments here and there. One thing led to another, and I finally got to working on flirting. Trust me, I'm a natural."

I already knew where this was heading, and while I didn't really like it, there was nothing I could do to stop it either.

"Anyways, that's pretty much it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an extremely beautiful and completely naked woman waiting for me in the other room. Also, if she asks why we're so good in bed, just remember that we've been watching a different porno every night since we discovered what masturbation is. Now, chop-chop."

Of all the ways of finding that NZT allowed me to perfectly mimic things that I've seen the human body do, blowing the mind of the girl who I lost my virginity to using the techniques and tricks showcased by some random porn-star was not even on my list of possibilities.

I slowly extricated my body from Nebula's gentle grasp, trying not to wake her up. My efforts were met with reward as I got myself out of the duvet. As I gave the bed one last glance, I was treated with a tantalizing view of Nebula – as naked as the day she was born. I couldn't help but keep wondering whether I ever would end up with someone as beautiful and out-of-my-league as her without NZT.

Probably not.

But did it matter, really? NZT Jaune was still Jaune. Sure, he was smarter than I'd ever been. He was confident, and he could get stuff done. But he too had his downsides. He only lasted as long as the pills did, but as long as I could be him, I could become someone great. I could stop being the cowardly kid who couldn't even unlock his aura.

I could be a hero, just like everyone else in my family.

I slipped out the leaf of NZT as I dressed. Without hesitation, I popped a pill. The effect kicked in within minutes, and as I left Nebula's flat, I smiled.

I had a week worth of things to do, it all began with a meeting with a huntsman.

* * *

The week went past a lot faster than I expected it to. It took me no more than two nights to realize what Lucas meant when he gave me fourteen pills instead of seven. After all, when one's body was _this_ alive, why would one want to sleep any more than the bare minimum?

The meeting with dad's friend went by smoother than expected. It wasn't the same Huntsman who had shown up at my doorstep a few months back, but between my ever-present aura and my smooth-yet-courteous way of talking, there was no way he could leave with a negative impression of me. The fact that he too was a busy man simply made the meeting all that much simpler. I even got an apology text from dad later and a promise that mom wouldn't hear so much as a squeak from him regarding my initial results – provided I did well in my re-sits.

So, faced with such a tantalizing opportunity, any normal student would hit the books with gusto enough to rival even the bubbliest talk-show hosts, but NZT convinced me that it would be a waste. After all, I did read the books once before the exams. While back then, I didn't understand even half of it, now – thanks to my perfect recall and heightened IQ – it all made perfect sense. That alone took care of two of the three exams.

The third was where I needed to concentrate.

Exam one and exam two were Aura theory and History respectively, and I aced them without much effort – if any. The third exam was a practical one. Combat class was the only grade that truly mattered, and its evaluation came down to a one-on-one battle with a professor. The applicant was to be graded on his personal skills, and how long they could withstand the teacher's onslaught.

No one is the class had scored anything above a B, and I myself had gone down to professor Ken in less than three seconds, getting an F.

Now, Professor Ken was like professor Huber. They were both huntsmen academy pass-outs who had decided not to join the active Huntsmen force. They were good, but nowhere near the level of an actual huntsman. Hell, professor Ken had actually joined last year's Mistral Regional and lost in the quarterfinals to some girl from Sanctum. If she could beat him, so could I.

But how?

That question was what I pondered and worked on over the course of the week. Sure, he knew everything about Ken's semblance. It was a sensory semblance that allowed him to track his target through even solid walls, and he used it to his advantage by using smoke pellets and making sure the arena he fought students in was always filled with obstacles which he could use to his advantage.

But could I fool it?

After a day worth of semblance research, I could definitively answer that question with a resounding 'no'. Semblances were magical powers that pretty much defied the laws of the world. One generally required a semblance to fight a semblance, and unlike unlocking aura, semblances unlocked autonomously.

So, question two was whether he could overpower Ken or not, and the answer to it was a very easy yes. Unlike other hunters who had to work to control their auras, NZT allowed me to do it almost instinctively.

Day three saw me go outside mistral's walls. Not far enough to run into any of the nastier Grimm, but close enough to find a Beowulf that had lost its way. Normal me would have lost it at this point – what with never having faced a Grimm before- but NZT me knew exactly what to do. Crocea Mors never felt more natural in my hands than it did at that very moment. I had no stance of my own, but I had seen each and every one of my seven sisters train with my current weapon before making their own. Visual knowledge was turned into usable, physical one by the NZT coursing through my bloodstream, and at that moment, I knew with full certainty that the Beowulf wouldn't survive.

My body moved just as my mind commanded, but it wasn't enough. I never had the muscle-mass of a huntsman, and that was my shortcoming. So my mind worked overtime, and the balance of my aura shifted. My muscles were strengthened immensely by the sudden concentration of aura that surrounded them, and then, they moved.

All it took was one slash, one single moment to end it all.

Crocea Mors cut through the Beowulf like a hot knife through butter. The strength behind the blade was enough to cut through the Beowulf's armour plating rather than breaking it open. The creature was bifurcated mid-leap, and its remains sizzled into nothingness as it hit the ground.

And through it all, I couldn't help keep a smile off my face.

The day ended with me slaying twenty more Beowulf and thirteen Ursai, including one major. Three days ago, I wouldn't have made it through the very first one. The sweat on my body was an indicator that I had changed, and nothing about said change was negative.

As I finally returned home, I realized that I had the perfect plan to defeat Professor Ken. The next two days passed in a flurry of examinations and preparation, and when I fell asleep on Friday, I slept with the knowledge that come morrow, the academic rungs of Gammon academy were going to see some drastic changes.

* * *

"I hope you're ready for this, Arc."

I spared one look at professor Huber. He was slated to be the judge of the match. I stood just outside the academy training grounds, a one-acre circle of decrepit buildings. It was once a city block that belonged to the old slum areas. Since the Faunus revolt and the exodus to Menagerie, it had remained unoccupied.

That is, till Gammon academy came up and decided it would make for a very authentic training ground. A cheap one too, if everything was to be considered.

On the other side of the ring, somewhere, I knew that Ken was already tracking me. I could already imagine what he must be feeling. The last time they fought wasn't even a challenge for the thrill-seeking teacher. His disappointment must be debilitating.

Little did he know, he was going to get the fight of his fucking life.

"Sir, do you remember the question you asked me five days ago?"

Huber looked at me like I'd asked him something stupid, and I had. As I said before, I loved my little theatrics, and little did Huber know, he was going to be part of my little play.

"Yes Jaune, I hope you have an answer to give me by Sunday."

I shook my head, "There's no need to wait for Sunday, Professor. You'll get your answer very soon."

Before he could answer, I flared my aura once to show off. Being a professor of Aura theory, it wouldn't take him long to figure out just how monstrous Jaune's aura truly was. I didn't wait for a response, though, as I channelled my aura to my legs and dashed into the battlefield faster than humanly possible.

I had been in this field a couple dozen times, so the layout was familiar to be both off and on NZT. My strategy hinged on luring Ken into one specific area of the field – namely the one intersection present in the entire acre. Ken preferred throwing knives as weapons, and if I was to use that against him, I'd need to get him to the most open area in the field.

Tease him with openings, feed him proof that I'm still as inept as I was a week ago, and he is bound to slip up.

A knife came out of nowhere and embedded itself in the wall beside me. It was a warning shot because Ken rarely ever missed. He was underestimating me, and that was good. It afforded me enough time to cross the final line of shacks and reach the intersection.

And on cue, Ken's smoke bombs went off, obscuring my vision. Had he been able to see me, though, he would have noticed the wide grin threatening to bifurcate my face. He would have known something was wrong.

But he didn't, and he threw his knives, falling right into my trap.

My mind emptied itself in a millisecond, it started running calculations, moving my shield-holding arm to just the right angle. All four knives clattered off the shield as my arm continued to contract, and the moment the knives were neutralized, my body spun, and the majority of my aura concentrated in my left arm.

My eyes followed the trajectory of the knives that I had a mere millisecond to truly digest. Complex geometry ran its theorems through my head, and I was able to triangulate Ken's exact location – accurate to the centimetre.

And then, the shield left my grasp with the speed of a cannonball.

Ken had no time to dodge as the shield caught him squarely in the chest. He was sent barreling through a wall, and his aura dipped dangerously but stabilized as he recovered from the hit, or at least attempted to.

I was at him before he could even find decent footing, the magic of being able to enhance my movement speed through aura manipulation. Ken did muster up a defence, no matter how laughably simple it was. It was mere muscle memory at this point, no thought to it. He stood no chance against me, four steps ahead that I was.

I ended it with a kick to his sternum. A kick, because using my blade would have cut right through both his aura and his body in a matter of seconds. It was a kick actively enhanced by aura, and it would definitely put him in a hospital, but he would live.

The kick sent him flying through a wall and out of the field, where he rolled over unconscious. Seeing his co-worker defeated, Huber ran over with what little speed he could muster, his eyes refusing to believe what he saw. When I finally stepped through the rubble, he was speechless. I slowly walked over to him, my gaze never leaving him, and leaned close to his right ear. The end of the play was nigh, and I couldn't let the audience walk home without a conclusion.

"That, professor, was my answer."

Did it have the raw emotional power of a drawn-out monologue? No.

Did it feel good? Fuck yeah.

* * *

I slept through the entirety of the weekend. My NZT fueled sleepless week was over, and I couldn't believe how good it had gone. But all good things had to come to an end. I had five pills left, and I was pretty sure Lucas would let me keep them – no matter how friendly he may look.

I could have kept the pills, but I myself didn't want to turn into someone reliant on them. I knew well enough that the more I used these pills, the less I would be willing to give them up. They'd shown me that determination and skill were all it took to truly be someone of note. If I could keep myself determined and keep training the old fashioned way, I could still become a huntsman of note.

But something in the back of my head kept on telling me that with NZT, I could be someone much more important.

These were the thoughts repeating in my head as I walked into the lab/hospital hybrid that had originally started this journey. I made sure to keep myself off NZT as I came here, lest I try to pull a fast one on Luke. I didn't want to lie to the one man who had pretty much saved me from a life of mundanity.

The same receptionist sat at her desk with the same bored expression on her face. It was almost like nothing had changed in the one week he had been away. Had these people even tried their own drug? Did they know what they were missing out on?

His thoughts were put to a halt when the receptionist finally looked up at me. The bored expression stayed on her face for exactly a second, before it was replaced by a look of utter surprise, bordering on horror. I almost missed the expression as it turned back into her trained look of boredom, but that second was enough to send warning bells ringing through my head.

What the fuck was that reaction? I was supposed to be here today. As a receptionist, shouldn't she have known that?

Thankfully, she didn't forget her professional etiquette quite as candidly as she forgot her trademark receptionist face. She didn't say a word to him, instead pressing the buzzer and pointing me to the same room I went into last time. I uttered a muffled thanks, but she was too dense to even pay attention to it.

"Ah, Jaune. Nice to see you. Has the NZT been treating you well?"

I sat down across from Lucas. Unlike his receptionist, the man showed no sign of surprise whatsoever. That was enough to reassure me. Maybe the receptionist was expecting someone else? God knows.

"More than well, actually. Your drug is quite something, sir."

Lucas happily lapped up the praise. "I know. If the results of our testing are conclusive enough to warrant the drug's safety, we plan to make it available across the market. You're doing good work, Jaune."

I giggled nervously. Even after my NZT-fuelled week, I found it hard to take any compliments.

"So, did you notice any side-effects from the pill?"

I shook my head. "None that I can think of. Unless of course the pill wasn't supposed to suddenly turn me into a genius."

Lucas laughed again. "No, no. That was definitely the intended effect. Are you sure about no side effects, though? No skin irritation? No mental breakdowns? Nothing?"

I shook my head again. "I'm fit as ever, sir. Better than I've felt in years, actually."

Lucas looked me over one more time before scribbling something indiscriminate onto his pad. He then put his hand into one of his desk's drawers and brought out a grey box and a wad of lien. I looked at the wad and gulped. This was almost ten times more than what was in the job description. There was no way this was all meant for me.

"Considering your success with then drug, Jaune, I was wondering. Would you be interested in further testing? Rules are the same, except now, I'm giving you a month's worth of pills. Of course, considering this is a long-term project, your pay will be scaled up as well. What say you? We can definitely make this worth your while."

That stopped me in my tracks. In that grey box were pills. Many more pills than my original leaf had. While my mind was repeatedly telling me not to take it, my heart sang a very different tune. In one week I had been able to use those pills to not only catch up, but exceed the educative difference between myself and a trained huntsman.

Imagine what I could do with a month's worth.

I gave it one last thought. Of course, the drug would hit the market over time, but considering the internal politics in the International health bureau, it could very well take a decade before NZT actually hit store shelves. I could get some then, but I'd be giving up a gigantic benefit that I could otherwise use to rise to the top.

There were too many benefits, and there were too few negatives. It was a number's game, really, and I didn't need NZT to do this calculation for me.

"I'll do it."

Lucas grinned. "Well then, this is for you. Forty-five pills this time, because schoolkids like you should get your beauty sleep at least sometimes. And here's half the payment. You'll be given another half when you report after a month. If any complications arise, feel free to visit whenever."

Wait, this was only half my payment? The day couldn't possibly get any better!

"I won't let you down, I promise!" I all but screamed as I picked up the items on the table and walked out. The receptionist shot me a sidelong glance, but I ignored her. I took out one of the five final pills from the old leaf and downed it as I stepped out of the building. I remarked at the fact that for a month, Remnant was mine for the taking. As the pill finally kicked it, I began formulating the plan for my rise to the top. I had one month.

And I better make it fucking count.

* * *

 **Lucas POV**

* * *

I could barely stop the shivers that threatened to take over my body as Jaune exited the room. The moment he was out of my sight, I collapsed.

It had taken three years of failed testers to finally find someone who could bear the physical and mental backlash of NZT. Thirty-two testers lay disabled and eleven lay dead thanks to the pill, and then in walks this teenager, saying that he didn't get as much as a single side-effect from them!

It was a bloody miracle!

Which reminded me, I had to call _him_. I stowed my daily-use phone in my coat's pocket as I retrieved the single-contact cell I used to contact boss. Barely two rings passed by till he picked up the call.

"Another one dead, I presume?"

His voice was as deadpan as ever. His boss was an infallible man. Three years he had funded the project, he had made sure that no matter what the outcome of the testing, the project never disappeared. If not for him, I'd be in jail, serving multiple life sentences.

Thankfully, my boss' views on humanity's future mirrored mine to a perfect T.

"No, we got someone who can handle it… quite gracefully too."

There was a good, long moment of silence. After three years of failure, this news must have hit my boss just as heavily as it hit me.

"Name, please."

Of course, details.

"Jaune Arc, sir. He's a student at the local cram school. Should I forward you his biodata?"

"There's no need for that. An Arc, huh? Well. Now I'm doubly interested."

It was then that it dawned on me. The family name 'Arc'. The heroes of the great war, the shields of Remnant. I had just given a month's dosage of my drug to someone with the genetic pedigree of an entire lineage of heroes!

"Boss! Imagine what someone like him could do with the drug."

There was a short grunt on the other side of the receiver. "If he's anything at all like his father, he'd make a great asset to us. I was already interested in the Arc offspring, but this takes my interest to a whole new level."

I couldn't help but agree with his sentiment.

"Also, would it kill you to refer to me by my official title once in a while, Agent Lucas Grey?"

I chuckled. Of course, _he'd_ stand on formality. Might as well humour the guy, considering how monumental today was turning out to be.

"Aye Aye, General James Ironwood! For the betterment of humanity!"

"And for the end of the eternal hunt."

* * *

 **So guys, In my usual fashion, I'm throwing this out here as a pilot. If this gains enough attention, this will become the story to replace 'Your True Colors'.**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Update on Metempsychosis will be the next thing from me.**

 **Also, I've taken up streaming in my free time. You can join in for some fun. I go by the username Kilm3 on Twitch. Pop in anytime for a chat!**

 **-CruelRuin**

* * *

 **NZT – 48**

 **Taken from the Limitless Wiki**

* * *

NZT is a mysterious drug that enhances human memory and intelligence while acting as a nearly perfect antidepressant and anxiolytic. Dealers claim it unlocks 100% of the brain, referencing the commonly known fact that only "10%" of our brains are normally used. It increases intelligence to superhuman levels and results in perfect recall for the extent of its activity. The post-use crash and side effects are, however, commensurately bad, and it is this which initially prevents the FBI (and others) simply mass producing and employing the drug

 **Powers**

When an individual takes NZT, their intellectual capabilities increase exponentially.

 **Hypermind:** Users possess a massively increased (seemingly limitless) level of intellectual and cognitive proficiency. They can process massive amounts of information, correlated to the level of their baseline intelligence ("It works better if you're already smart."). They can process an otherwise impossible number of simultaneous calculations, identify a dramatically increased number of variables in any situation, and instantly cross-correlate previously accessed information (including information accessed-even with minimal attention-before taking the drug).

 **Perfect recall:** Users can remember and instantly recall seemingly everything they have ever experienced, encountered or learned in their lifetime without being overwhelmed or a pause for thought. They need only to read, hear or see something once and they will never forget it. Their brain and mind gain massively increased, seemingly unlimited, storage and analytical capacity.

 **Instant learning:** Users can gather and assimilate any kind of knowledge/skill and understand it fully and rapidly. They can read things at extremely high speeds while still retaining all of the information.

 **Instant analysis:** Users subconsciously notices, processes and understands the details of any stimulus, no matter how small, as well as perceives and understand a large number of cause and effect relations. Thus reducing the paths leading to most effects, allowing them to intuitively plan, analyze, and take action with seemingly perfect efficiency without obvious trouble. They are capable of creating functionally flawless, elaborate plans effortlessly. Users often quickly deduce the steps needed to succeed at any given task and execute them perfectly.

 **Omnilingualism:** Users has the ability to rapidly gain fluency in most known forms of communication, often becoming fluent through newly available memories of prior exposures.

 **Superhuman Charisma:** Users become eloquent speakers, orators, and story-tellers, as a side effect of the additional abilities afforded by the drug. they become superhumanly persuasive and can usually deduce the ideal statements for most crowds. Their uncanny charisma allows them to easily take a leadership role in increasingly many situations.

 **Superhuman Dexterity:** Users possesses perfect muscle control; they can perform any physical activity without difficulty. They perform dexterous tasks with no practice beforehand rapidly and flawlessly. They can copy any movement/action after seeing it performed once. They can control their own vocal cords allowing them to freely manipulate their voice

 **Multitasking:** Users are able to perform multiple tasks at once. For example, they can replay in their head, solve a rubric cube with one hand, draw a perfect copy of one of Leonardo Da Vinci's self-portraits with his other hand, read through 100s of pages of documents, mentally solve complex math problems, while speaking Farsi, all without any singular task distracting him from another. They can do many things all at the same time efficiently and flawlessly.

 **Superhuman sensory absorption:** User can absorb information from all types of media at a superhuman rate. Able to sit in a room with hundreds of television and radio sets blaring away all around him each with a different source, and they can see and hear all of it, process it all, finding patterns or specific details without any trouble.

 **Superhuman instincts:** User possesses a mind and instincts which processes the world in the most advanced and efficient manner. Able to find any solutions to any and all kind of problems that they face, using both the logical and illogical sense and strategies. They will make the right decision in any situation, multiplying their survivability and success rate, allowing them to overcome any hardship with minimal damage and pull victory despite all odds.

 **Hypercompetent:** User can easily become proficient at every task/ skill. They can handle all situations and matters, regardless of the problem, situation or conflict, and they will know what to do when to do it, and how to do it. They will never lose a fight, conflict, etc., due to always being able to see a way to win and/or escape any situation.


	2. Chapter 2 - Fellow Feeling

**Hello guys!**

 **I'm still not anywhere near a computer, so part two of my mobile tales shall be this chapter. I will be revisiting this to make sure that it is grammatically sound when I do get back to my digs.**

 **Here's a reminder that this is the first story I have ever written in a first-person perspective, so if I do slip into third person somewhere down the line, please point it out in my PMs or reviews!**

 **Also, I figured I should give you a warning, this fic is very liberal with off-canon applications of Aura and other such power matters. As such, I'm banking on your suspension of disbelief to last long enough to actually stick with this story.**

 **As for the pairings, well, I just put Pyrrha up in the description because I frankly couldn't come up with any real pairings. I'll get to the pairings once the plot deepens - if i do, that is.**

 **So, without much ado, here's chapter two.**

* * *

 **Beyond the Bounds**

 **Chapter 2 - Fellow Feeling**

* * *

Being on NZT has its drawbacks. I noticed some when I walked into school the next day. I looked at people differently, for example. The same kid who I had spoken to twice in six months, I could claim to know him better than I did a day before, and it was not due to talking to him at all.

NZT has a way of organizing everything you know about anything and give it context through observation. Just by having a pre-conceived ideal of a person - backed by both rumors and prior knowledge - I could easily predict their responses to social stimuli with a very high percentage of success. It made day-to-day interactions much more fruitful, but it also served to give me more insight about how people treated me.

NZT cleared one's conceptions and allowed one to rationalize. And my rationale was simple. I was an outsider, and the results of my fight against Professor Ken had just made the divide between me and my peers all that much wider.

The reason for this divide was simple, really. I was from a family of famed Huntsmen - of heroes, if I might be candid - and they weren't. There was a certain pedigree of huntsmen kids, one that I had failed to live up to in my first few months of school. The results of my spar changed that. No longer was I a living, breathing spit-in-the-face for their expectations, but something quite the opposite.

I was suddenly the very personification of the ideal 'huntsman-in-training'. No longer was I someone they could ignore, no longer was I someone they could bully during combat practice - as evidenced by the next day, when I was able to systematically dismantle the erstwhile class topper, Glenn Argus, within a minute.

Suddenly, I was someone they _feared_.

That fear was quite healthy for them, all things considered, and quite profitable for me. No longer would they seek me out to try and bully me. No longer did I have to spend time in detention, or a job for that matter.

So I had time to grow.

It was a boring process for any outsider, to be frank. My days were spent either in classes or libraries. NZT gave me perfect recall, but it didn't grant me omniscience. I went through tomes and tomes of Aura-related theories and detailed explanations for their practical applications.

It took me less time to actually learn the skills than to read the books.

Aura was a beautiful thing. The more I learnt about it, the more I fell in love with it. Huntsmen wouldn't master skills beyond the basic abilities of Aura till their late thirties, mostly due to the inherent difficulty of the learning process.

A process that NZT took care of for me.

So I learnt the basics, then the advanced techniques. I didn't have a semblance yet, so I was already behind a number of my peers. Semblances were wildcards, abilities that didn't fit into most categories. While some of them were undeniably useful, others were underwhelming enough to be completely useless. One of the books I read explained it best, really. In times of war, people needed stronger semblances because survival demanded them. These days, it wasn't as common.

They were linked to a person's psyche, after all. And peace made people weak.

So instead, I decided to put it aside and work on skills I could actually gain tangible benefits from.

"You know, I find this 'Aura Layering' business quite fascinating. Do you think we could come up with a more... Offensive version of this?"

I looked across the table to find him, him being an identical copy of me. While I would have liked to call it a fruit of my aura training, I knew enough about aura to know that this couldn't be a byproduct of it.

This was just another feature of NZT. Another version of me, only available to myself - one that helped me double the amount of 'thinking time' at my disposal. I guess it was just a visual hallucination caused by my brain, trying to give a visual representation to the streamlined, parallel processes of thought running inside me head. I preferred it when it was quiet, but this guy, he was a lot like me.

Because he was me, after all.

"I could, but reinforcement of muscles is a byproduct of aura concentration. Layering aura is kind of counterproductive to that, don't you think?" I retorted, not even looking up from my book. My doppelganger hissed, as if what I pointed out disproved a theory of his, so, I had just shut down a theory of my own.

In style.

"You do have a point, but doing physical training with layered aura could really help with mental conditioning. You know, make it so that you can keep up the layers even when under duress?" He asked. I simply pointed at my head.

"The NZT takes care of that. I have more progress to make before I can think of going off this cycle of training I have created."

"But you'll need to do it before the NZT runs out, you know?"

I stopped reading for a second. Of course I knew that. The moment the NZT ended, I'd lose access to most of my knowledge. Well, it would still be in my head, of course, but in a jumbled mess of theories, facts and methods of application. The only way to use all these skills without NZT was for me to ingrain each and every such skill in my passive mind, and such automation only came with both practice and repetition.

I didn't have time for that, especially now.

"You know, you can simply ignore it. You don't need to compete, do you?"

And I had a point, of course. I didn't _need_ to be part of the Mistral cup. The invite lay on my table, next to the book I was reading. Normal Jaune would have ignored it, normal me would have settled for the normal process, where my addition to a Huntsmen academy would be governed by simple exams and procedures. Normal Jaune would settle for the mundane.

NZT Jaune didn't settle, and it was both a blessing and a curse.

The Mistral cup was a proving ground for the best amateur huntsmen. Place well there, and huntsmen academies would take note. Win there, and I'd be served with invites to all four of the academies on a silver platter.

Headhunting was a boon if one could make use of it, and I could.

My phone buzzed. A message from Nebula, asking me to meet.

Well, speaking of 'unwilling to settle'...

* * *

"What do you mean you haven't called me for a quickie, Nebula?"

The tanned teen blushed. I could see that over the past week-and-a-half, her demeanor towards me had definitely changed. No longer was I the flunkie who was inexplicably good at sex.

I was an equal now. An equal who was still somehow incredible at sex.

"No! Is that all you ever think about, Jaune?" she chastised. I did in fact think of stuff other than it, and was doing so right now. She was decked out in her casual gear, so she wasn't going to go psycho on me. She didn't have the time or temperament to think of being in a serious relationship, so what was this?

That's when my eyes caught sight of the all-too-familiar invite on the table, and my mind made the connection.

"You want to talk about the tournament, then?"

She nodded. Of course. She was the first-ranked student from the other section. It was customiary for Gammon to send two students each year. I had been wondering who'd be the second. Generally, Professor Ken would take the second Invite, considering he was an amateur huntsman himself.

Apparently not this year, though.

"I know you're the first invite. Professor Ken gave you his invite. I got mine from administration." She pointed at her TV. "I have recordings from the last three tournaments. Each match is clearly labeled, so you'll know exactly which fighters are duking it out. I need your help to prepare."

I nodded, "Sure, but what's in it for me?"

She stopped for a second. Apparently, she'd thought my help would come for free. Thankfully, it was more surprise than shock that stopped her. So it was easy to assume that she had a countermeasure in place.

"Jaune, I've been watching the tournament for two years now. I know how it works there. You might believe you're ready, but I know you are not. So, I'd like to train you."

I shook my head. "I can learn everything about the fighters themselves by watching the fights on NewTube, you know? I told you I'm a quick study, you know how true that statement is. So, what is it that you plan to teach me?"

Nebula was silent for a few moments, choosing instead to give me _very_ pointed glares. "I'll volunteer to be your sparring partner for the month. No one else is going to be willing to fight you daily for a month, especially after what you did to Glen, not that I don't approve it."

I shrugged, "Sure, that would help. But it hardly explains why you need me."

She didn't answer, instead, she beckoned me to join her on the couch across the TV. The playback was paused in the middle of a fight. As I sat down, Nebula played the video.

It was a battle between a monster of a man and a red-haired girl teen. If this was a way for her to teach me that the competition was fierce, she'd have to try harder. I was about to mention that little tidbit, but my mind was drawn away as the battle started.

It was one sided, _painfully_ one sided. It was the complete opposite of what I had expected. It was the teen who completely outclassed her opponent. Her stance was perfect, her movement was precise to the inch. The big bloke on the other side didn't stand a chance, even with his liberally-used speed semblance. He was a skilled huntsman, maybe even on the level of a pro, but it simply wasn't enough.

His dual hand-scythes never even touched the crimson-haired amazon. I couldn't see how their aura was flowing, but it was clear that the girl wasn't even using her semblance, or enhancing her strength outside the norm.

She was simply that fucking good.

Before a minute of match-time had elapsed, she had destroyed the guy. What was more surprising was the fact that she hadn't taken a single hit through it all.

"That's Pyrrha Nikos, the unbeatable. She's won the Mistral Cup thrice in a row... without ever using her semblance."

I could finally attach a face to the name. Living in Mistral, you simply couldn't escape it. I had never seen any of her matches, but she had a dedicated fan-group in the academy.

I suppose being a prodigy, coupled with model-like looks really did bring in admirers.

"And I want to unseat her."

Okay, that was new. I would've had taken it as a joke, had I not caught the sheer grit in her tone. She was serious about this.

"I've spent months worth of time analysing her fighting style, and I cannot come up with a way to defeat her. I know it's a longshot, but you are very, _very_ perceptive. I know you're my opponent too, but as long as I can see her dethroned, I'll be happy."

I raised an eyebrow. It wasn't normal to see Nebula this vindictive. "What did she do to you?" I asked. The vindictiveness disappeared, replaced by sorrow.

"Me and her were friends once, back in primary school. She was a badass even back then, you know? Me and her were the de-facto leaders of a grouo of kids who wanted to be huntsmen when we grew up." she took in a deep, ragged breath, but the sadness did not leave her eyes.

"When we finally shipped off to junior huntsmen academies, we all made a promise to each other. We promised one another never to stop growing... to be the best huntsmen we can be. She's forgotten her promise. She's been at the same level of power and skill for the last three years."

I nodded. "She believes it is enough, because her opponents all lack the strength to beat her. You hope that defeat will make her jump back into self-betterment."

Nebula nodded. "Yes. I don't know if she's become apprehensive, or if she's hit a boundary of growth, but that isn't her. I've seen her grow, Jaune. She becomes better at a pace that could give you a run for your money. Victory and fame has made her complacent... And I wish to disabuse her of that notion."

"So, will you help me?"

I thought it over for a second. Training with Nebula sure sounded helpful, considering how little experience I had with actual combat between human opponents. Plus, she had already compiled data on the other competitors. It saved me hours upon hours of research. Sure, training with Nebula after school hours would cut into my physical training, but I could offset that by doing combat training with weights.

There was no real net gain or loss for me here. Had I been anyone else, I wouldn't have taken it. But the influence of NZT aside, I was still Jaune Arc.

Jaune Arc cared about his friends... and fuckbuddies.

"I'm in. So, where do we train?"

I was rewarded with the most genuine smile I had ever seen grace Nebula's face. My heart skipped a beat when I realized just how beautiful a genuine smile made her seem.

"I've already sanctioned the Gammon arena for the month. We can use it after class hours. We'll come here for research, which will pretty likely last late into the night. So, for a month, you can stay with me."

I gave her a snide smirk. "Ooh! I like _that_ bit, yes I do."

She chuckled, "You're a total horndog, you know?"

I imitated being hurt, "My dear Nebula, what are you trying to insinuate? All I'm saying is that when a very beautiful lady and a dashing man work together in a small space, it gives birth to a certain amount of... _Tension_... you know? Add a time limit to that, and we have the script for a b-grade romance/thriller movie."

Nebula sighed. "Yes, Jaune. We're going to be fucking."

"Every day?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"Every _night._ "

"Score!"

* * *

"You're a monster, you know that right?"

I gave Nebula a wry smile. "It's part of who I am, Nebula. You were the only who told me to not go easy on you."

She shook her head. One good week of training was enough to make her understand that I was much too far out of her league. Thirty-one spars with weighted armor on and I had only lost the initial one.

"Still, fighting you just makes me realize how big the gulf between me and Pyrrha is. I'm surprised that you didn't show this proficiency during the first six months of school." Nebula asked, her questions was valid, but telling her about NZT was a no-go.

Nondisclosure acts were such bullshit.

"You could say that I was saving the best for last. Awakening my aura helped too. Which reminds me, how're you getting on with your semblance?" I asked, deflecting the question with another one of my own. It was last week that Nebula had first achieved her semblance. Super-senses, guess there were worse semblances out there, but there were better ones too.

A lot of them.

"It's like seeing the world through a different perspective, honestly. It takes some getting used to, but training with you definitely allows me to make use of it in combat. For that, you have my thanks."

I chuckled, not because of her little 'thank you', but due to the way she had worded her sentence. 'Seeing the world from a different perspective' was exactly what NZT allowed me to do, and if her version of change was anything like mine, things would only get better for her the more she familiarized herself with it.

"Don't mention it, Nebula. I'm getting better myself. It's been a learning opportunity for the both of us."

Nebula cleared her throat, "Well, glad you understand. So, any update on the fighting style you were working on?"

I was surprised she hadn't noticed it yet, to be honest, but then again, my new prototype-style was still based off the Arc style of swordsmanship. That was mostly because the Arc style was a basic fighting style that each and every Arc warrior had contributed to, making their own variants of it as they went. I was doing something similar myself. I was reading books about old styles of military combat, watching videos of huntsmen in action. At that point, it was just trial-and-error in combat, changing parts of my current style with parts of other styles.

It was a time-consuming process, but having a willing Huntswoman to train with certainly did make my experimentation a lot smoother.

"I've been working on it. It should be workable by the time the tournament rolls by." I answered.

"What about your lack of ranged alternatives? Almost every huntsman has them?"

Now that was a little bit of an issue. Considering the three weeks between now and the tournament, even with NZT, I didn't have either the time or Inclination to learn more about dust rounds. There was also the fact that my entire style was 'in-your-face' beyond all measure. Finally, I didn't have the heart to modify Crocea Mors. It wasn't my sword, it was my family's.

Adding a gun or the ilk would be an endeavor for later. Either that or I could just temporarily bolt-on a crossbow on my sword. Sure, it wouldn't fit its sheath anymore and be unwieldy as fuck, but seeing Nebula fight with her unholy contraption of bolts and blades lent some serious merits to the idea.

But it all came at a premium, Time. It would take time to make these modifications, and to learn enough about dust to use it properly. While I definitely planned to jump into the world of dust-weaving, it would have to wait until I got the intricacies of aura out of the way.

Aura, which had already allowed me to learn a way to make projectiles a lot less efficient against me.

"We have three weeks, Nebula. It isn't enough to do a custom mod-job for both my weapon and my fighting style. Though I have engineered a way to circumvent it."

Nebula rose an eyebrow and leaned closer to me, "And what is this 'way'? Pray, do tell?"

I waggled a finger in front of her face, "That, my dear Neb-Neb, would ruin the surprise. You are still my opponent, you know?"

"Neb-Neb? That's definitely a first. Speaking of our opponent, though. You went through all her fights, yes?" I nodded, and she continued. "Do you think I can beat her?"

"Not as you are, no."

She sputtered. "What do you mean 'as I am'?"

I shrugged. "It's obvious, Nebula. Pyrrha is from a family of huntsmen. The Nikos were once known as the spears of the bloody Mist, considering their genetic hair-color and their country of origin. She's very well-versed in her family arts and her fighting style has no obvious weaknesses."

Nebula hissed, "I knew her as a kid, Jaune. I know all this, so get to the point, will you?"

I grunted. "Well, the way she's been trained makes sense. Her parents were seen as something of an insult to the family's pedigree, so they made sure she had an early start to her training. The reason she's winning against all these amateur huntsmen is because she's both a prodigy and has years of experience fighting humans."

"You, Nebula, have neither."

Nebula shuddered where she stood. She knew I meant what I said, but she also knew that I wasn't saying it to hurt her. Thankfully, I had a solution for her.

"But recently, she's been slacking. Her form's been growing inconsistent for the last two years. It seemed her parents like basking in the limelight more than she does. So, instead of training her further, they're trying to market her. You know of that saying, right? Even the sharpest of blades rust without care."

Nebula's eyes widened, before her face settled on a questioning look. "Are you sure we saw the same recordings, Jaune? Cause I didn't catch that at all."

I nodded, "I would have been super impressed if you'd have caught them, honestly. I'm only clear about the fact that she's rusting because I concentrated on things other than her."

Now that revelation hit Nebula like a ton of bricks. "What do you mean 'other than her'? She's my motive, so why would I consider anything else?"

I let a wry grin emerge on my face. "The Mistral cup is something that many people are interested in, Nebula. Families use it to show their dominance to headmasters. It's the perfect area for scouting out talent, but all the major huntsmen families have been avoiding it for two years now, why do you think that's the case?"

Nebula shrugged. "I don't know, maybe they just don't have any fighters of age?"

I just shook my head. "Not even close, Nebula. As a matter of fact, many of these families had representatives in the tournament three years ago. They came with the hopes of winning, bringing glory to their families. What they met - on the other hand - was humiliation at the hands of someone barely into her first year of a junior huntsman academy. So, tell me, what do you think the families did the next year?"

Nebula chucked, it was a dry chuckle. "Let me guess, to save face, they didn't join the coming year, did they?"

I nodded. "Many of these families have been around for decades. They understand that public view is easy to manipulate. They don't show up till the year Pyrrha graduates, then they send in more representatives to sweep the floor with the competition. The public loves them thanks to their one-sided dominance against normal competitors and their fierce fights against one another, and the families regain what little face they have lost."

Nebula chucked again, this time with some mirth sprinkled in. "That sounds typical. I take it the Arc did similar things?"

I shook my head. "We Arcs prefer to let our skills talk for ourselves. Having heroes in the family tree makes sure people always remember our presence anyways."

"So, these people withdrew. That means Pyrrha's second year title-defense was an easier task. That shows some stagnation, but year three actually saw some competitors that pushed Pyrrha a bit. So what changed?" She asked. Thankfully, I had the answers ready.

"No, Nebula, that's where you are wrong. The second year's batch was weaker than that of the first, and the third year followed the same trend. Privateers and tournament fighters pulled out too. Their livelihood relies on wining prize-pools, so they realized the futility of facing Pyrrha and decided to take their talents elsewhere. Hell, even someone as old and out-of-shape as professor Ken managed to get a podium finish out of it."

Realization dawned on Nebula as I slowly fed her hope in the form of rationale. "She's only been training the bare minimum. Between the multiple branding deals, the familial pressure and the timesink that is media, she probably doesn't even have time to consider improving, not that she needs to. She's strong, there in no denying that. But without her constant improvement, she can be beaten.

"And we have three weeks to get ourselves ready, ready to take the best shot we have at beating her." Nebula answered, the smile on her face was so large that it almost threatened to spill over.

"It'll take a lot of training, but I believe you'll at least be able to get a decent shot at her. No matter which one of us goes up against her, we should at least be able to force her to use her semblance. Knowing what it is will allow us to strategically plan... That is if one of us doesn't just beat her outright." I answered.

"Well then, we'll do twice the amount of spars tomorrow!" Nebula cheered.

"Tomorrow? I half expected you to run off right now. Unless of course you have plans for the night..."

The response I got was Nebula pushing me back into the couch. "Oh yes, my good sir, I have plans for tonight. Someone very dear to me has been _very_ helpful lately."

The sultry smile on her rosy lips was the last thing I saw before our lips met and I closed my eyes.

I really loved my life right now.

* * *

"So, preliminary week, huh? You nervous?"

Deep inside my psyche, normal Jaune was definitely nervous. But NZT Jaune was capable. I knew that capability didn't discount the chance of accidents, but it more than leveled the playing field between me and the guys who can come to compete.

The showings were paltry for the caliber of the tournament, as I had predicted. Not many were willing to face off against someone with the moniker of 'the invincible girl'. I could count the number of semi-decent fighters present on one hand.

"I'm quite sad I'm not in the same group as you and Nikos. Thought I'd soften her up for you a bit."

Nebula chucked nervously. "Yeah, as if. I'm never beating you, Jaune. Even with all this training, you've always been a few steps ahead of me."

I shrugged. "It doesn't matter, does it? You're going to get your shot at Pyrrha regardless. Now, we'll have a good fight in the finals to test your theory."

Nebula was silent for a few seconds. "And what if I can't beat her?"

I smiled. "Well then, you'll have to make sure to soften her up for me then."

She laughed, "That, I can do."

As we walked deeper into the waiting room, I saw her, and what a sight she was. Her images and videos did both her aura and her beauty a disservice. Judging merely by size and potency, her aura was enough to rival mine, but what sent out red flags was the way she posed herself.

She was active, even as she rested. She wasn't sitting just to keep herself from fully relaxing. She was surveying the competition with mild curiosity, her sweeping gaze resting on each individual for a few seconds, then moving on. Her gaze met mine, and neither of us pulled away. A certain amount of interest showed itself in her eyes, but she stowed it away as soon as it appeared. I nodded to her in acknowledgement. She nodded back, and then her eyes moved on.

To Nebula.

"Nebula? What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice was mild, unexpectedly so. Her impassive expression morphed into one of joy and recognition, but she found no purchase in Nebula's stoic visage.

"I came here to make sure you've kept up our promise, Nikos."

The fact that Nebula used her surname, combined with her monotone was enough to shock the red-haired warrior. She regained her stability admirably fast, but the feeling of hurt never left her eyes. It made it hard for me, realizing that the person I would likely have to fight was much more empathetic than I had pegged her to be.

Cocky people were easy to put in their place. Kind people? Fighting them just left a bad taste in my mouth.

"Well yes! I've been training every day!" She retorted, but her tone betrayed her. Whatever this woman was, she was not a good liar.

"Between all the interviews, photoshoots and advertising, I take it? At least have the decency to own up to your failure."

Nebula's words cut her like a knife. "But I'm doing my best! I've won this tournament for three years now, does that not prove to you that i'm strong?"

Nebula shook her head, "It isn't about being strong, Nikos. Our promise was to never stop growing. Don't mock me by saying that you've grown any during the last three years."

"As for your victories, well, they'll stop this week. I'll take you down myself." Nebula concluded, walking off to find a seat, preferably on the other side of the arena. What she left behind was pain, the pain of realization.

"You know, she's gonna come at you guns blazing." I pointed out, drawing her attention towards me instead. "More like 'Crossbows blazing', considering her choice of weaponry, but it just doesn't sound as good, does it now?"

The lame joke diffused the situation slightly, just enough for Pyrrha to muster up a smile. It was still a sad smile, but it was progress nonetheless. "You're her training partner, aren't you?" Considering my closeness to another participant in this one-on-one tournament, it was an obvious conjecture to come to, i reaffirmed it with a confirmatory nod nonetheless.

"She's become strong, but she won't beat me. You know that already, don't you?"

I didn't respond for a moment. "She might not be as strong as you, Pyrrha, but she's determined. That is a quality you lack... or one you have lost, dare I say?"

Pyrra laughed, it was a mocking laugh. "I'm from a huntsman family. You have no idea how it works in our world."

"Oh, trust me, I probably know better than you. My family situation is the same, though I never got them any real laurels, not that they asked me to anyway."

Pyrrha smiled, "Well, maybe you can change that. I can feel your strength."

I shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. I wouldn't hold my breath in anticipation."

She giggled, this time, it was something genuine. "I'm Pyrrha Nikos, which you already know. I can't say I know you, though. It isn't normal for me to miss someone as strong as you in my own age bracket."

Before I could answer, someone did so for me. That 'someone' being the sorry sod who managed the arena's intercom system.

"Will Mr. Jaune Arc please step into the arena?"

I bowed to Pyrrha, "Well, that's my call. I would have loved to chat, but I think we'll keep our conversation on hold till our fight, yeah?"

I was gone before she could answer, but considering her huntsman heritage and the implications of my name, I was more than certain she knew exactly who I was.

And that I'd just promised her something that had been denied to her for three years.

A challenge

* * *

The opponents I faced during qualification were... Lackluster to say the least. I managed to average a one minute per fight record between all three of my fights. Nebula managed the same on her end.

Pyrrha managed half that much.

Me and Nebula had lit a fire in her, and it was easy to see. She wasn't just fighting her opponents, she was dismantling them posthaste. It almost felt like she was in a hurry to fight me and Nebula.

To be honest, so was I.

"She's still pretty strong, isn't she?" Nebula whispered next to me, her eyes scanned the arena, awe apparent in her expression.

"She's strong, that is undeniable. She could be a hell lot stronger if she applied herself, that I can confirm." I stated.

"The way she's fighting... It is so raw... so unrestrained. It is closer to how she fought in the first tournament than how she did in the third." Nebula stated. She was right, and there was a very simple reason for it.

"She's fighting with everything she's got, just like she used to before she became complacent. It is all because of your little 'talk' with her, you know?" I interjected, drawing a look of utter confusion from her. "You threw down the gauntlet, and you have the skills to back it up. You've given her something she's been missing for two years now."

"And what might that be?" the irritated tone she took told me that she really wasn't in the mood for jokes.

"A challenge, of course. You have a reason to give her your all, and that gives her reason to do the very same."

Nebula gulped. "So, her stagnation wasn't physical..."

I nodded, "No, she's very much in shape. While she hasn't grown any stronger, she's still a very formidable opponent."

Nebula grasped my arm, before I could crack a wise-ass remark, her eyes were already boring into mine.

"Jaune, if I can't beat her, you'll have to. Promise me."

I couldn't make that promise. Sure, with NZT, I had an upper hand against an opponent of equal strength, but Pyrra was a prodigy, and she probably did have a semblance, unlike me.

I couldn't be sure enough to make the promise, but I could do the closest thing to it.

"I'll give the fight my all, Nebula. I'll promise you that much." I spoke, and her eyes mellowed.

"That's all I can ask, Jaune."

* * *

If someone had told me a month ago that I would be a finalist in the Mistral cup, I would have laughed at their face. But here I was. Three fights against irritability easy opponents had led to this point.

And I would be facing Pyrrha Nikos next.

Nebula lay unconscious in the infirmary bed. Aura exhaustion did that to a person. Her fight against Pyrrha had been a spectacle indeed, and it had drawn the attention it deserved.

But it hadn't been enough.

Nebula used each and every trick in the book, and even managed to take Pyrrha down to half-aura, a feat that hadn't been accomplished in three years. It simply wasn't enough, sadly. Pyrrha was just that good. Even with half her aura missing, it had taken her three good strikes to end Nebula.

She hadn't even used her damned semblance.

"I'm sorry it came to this, Nebula." Pyrrha whispered to her erstwhile friend. Her expression made it painfully clear that she took no pleasure in hurting her friend. She wasn't here to gloat, she was just worried for her friend.

"You did what you had to, Pyrrha." I stated, drawing her attention away from her unconscious frenemy. "She'd never forgive you if you took her lightly."

She nodded. "It isn't too late to back out right now, Arc. She's proven her point. I'm stagnating while she's still growing."

I chuckled, "So, her feelings got to you, didn't they?"

Pyrrha nodded, "yeah, somewhere between the third and fourth crossbow bolts she managed to peg me with."

I laughed, "Well, she does have pretty mean aim, you know?" Pyrrha could only agree. "Though I'm quite certain about not wanting to withdraw."

Pyrrha's eyes widened with surprise. "But you've made it to the finals, the headmasters of the academies are sure to scout you out already. Wasn't that your aim?"

She really was a perceptive one. "Am I really that easy to read?" I asked. A shake of her head disabused me of that notion.

"No, but you are an Arc. Your family is beyond prestigious. You've shown that you are capable, so you can easily bypass general examination processes. That has to be the only reason someone of your caliber is here."

I stared at her for a good second. "While that was the original reason why I came here, I find myself intrigued to meet someone of your prowess. I'd like to take a decent shot at you, to be honest."

My eyes trailed towards Nebula's prone form. She was no longer unconscious, just pretending. "Plus, I have a promise to keep, a promise to a certain special someone."

My gaze met Pyrrha's again, and she held me in a stare-off for a good five seconds. In the end, it was she who hedged.

"So be it, then. As much as I don't want to hurt one of Nebula's friends, I won't give any quarter."

"I wasn't expecting any, Pyrrha. Also, I'd recommend you use your Semblance against me. Else, I cannot guarantee your safety." before she was could respond, I had already left the room.

I had no reason to be excited, facing someone who was - in every way - my superior, but that didn't stop my body from shaking with anticipation.

* * *

The arena was abuzz with noise as I waited in the lounge, ready to go fight when called. It was a testament to the popularity of the tournament that the hall was completely full. I had no fans in there though. No one in the audience knew what I was capable of.

Pyrrha - on the other hand - had supporters by the hundreds. Red T-shirts, each carrying her personal emblem, dotted the audience. Banners cheering her on went up, and a group of super-dedicated fans had even created a gigantic balloon in the shape of her face.

In the face of such dominance, weaker men would have crumpled. Sadly, NZT kept me from doing that, even though the through of retreating did cross my mind once or twice.

But I had to do this, both for myself and for Nebula.

"Introducing our first contestant of the day, the mysterious stranger, a first-time showing at our tournament, JAUNE ARC!"

The commenary was kinda new, I had to admit. I hadn't drawn our any match long enough to really actively take note of it till now. The commentator's tone when introducing me came across as rather bored, and the audience clapped, but only to be polite. They weren't here to see me, after all.

"And in the other corner, our defending three-time champion, the 'Invincible girl'... PYRRHA NIKOS!"

The crowd went nuts as she walked into the arena. I could see the manufactured smile on her face clear as day. She wasn't a fan of the spotlight to say the least. I could tell that she wanted to have the life of a normal teen, away from the limelight.

Her abhorrence towards herself was like spit in my face.

I would have taken insult with her if not for the fact that she had worked hard for this. I was a stranger to hard work till a month ago, and I could respect what the girl had accomplished, even though she rejected the fruits of her own labor.

"Don't mind the crowd, Jaune. They've always been like this."

I grinned, of course she expected me to be nervous about the showing of solidarity her fans had given her. Sadly, I was not one to let it affect me. NZT drowned out the sounds of everything outside of the immediate arena... well, it didn't really drown them out as well as it allowed my brain to ignore their existence.

I offered her a hand, as was customary. "Let's have a good fight, Pyrrha Nikos."

Slightly surprised by my lack of nervousness, she took the proffered hand. "I would very much like that, Jaune arc."

We shook hands, and jumped back, drawing our weapons mid-leap. My mind registered that the digital referee had called a start to the fight, but my body was already ready, ever since Pyrrha's hand touched mine.

We maintained our distance, revolving around each other, trying to scout for openings. I already knew that there were none in her stance, but my time was better spent gauging her aura.

What I found was rather disappointing.

Unlike my variable aura control, hers was uniform around her body. Just like most amateur and Junion huntsmen, she simply let her aura sit as a protective field, leaving out almost all the offensive options it offered her. It was a testament to the fact that she had indeed stopped growing.

I allowed my guard to slip a bit, provoking her into taking a shot. She didn't disappoint. While she didn't use her Aura to actively enhance her speed and strength, her body was already extremely well trained. Add the passive effects of an aura of her size, and she was damn near equalling my own speed.

I was still able to get my shield up in time to parry her spear, I allowed myself a smirk as I concentrated my aura over the exact muscle-groups needed for an overhead strike, I waited for her to recoil from the parry. If I caught her in her blind spot, I could end this before she caught on to my ploy.

I was stopped when suddenly my sword's weight increased tenfold.

Rendered off-balance, I could barely manage to bash my shield into her face and use the momentum to dash back, allowing her to reset. My mind ran through all the scenarios that would explain why my sword had suddenly become almost unusable, with my shield following right after.

All the scenarios came up with exactly one answer.

"So, you used your semblance, didn't you?"

Pyrrha gave me a sheepish smile. "You asked me to use it, plus I would have lost had I not, wouldn't I?"

I grunted in confirmation, dropping both my shield and sword. At this point, my only weapons had both become too cumbersome to use. A semblance that added weight to things? Something that only targeted metals? I had so little to go on.

Thankfully, It was at that point that Pyrrha chose to do something a bit more flashy.

The woman threw her spear at me, using a bullet's backfire to speed it up further. I dodged it with ease, wondering why she had used such an obvious strategy. My quandry was answered when Crocea Mors seemingly developed a mind of its own and shot out at me, both shield and sword. I barely managed to dodge the two-pronged assault before Pyrrha's spear re-joined the fray, almost impaling me as it reversed its trajectory mid-throw. As I managed to dodge it, it shot out a bullet right before it was caught by Pyrrha's hand.

The bullet was stopped by my aura, managing to shatter three full layers before it came to a stop. No normal bullet could cause such damage. It wasn't till I took a look at the crumpled bullet lying near my feet that I realized what her semblance was

"Polarity, huh? Well, someone's got one hell of a semblance."

Pyrrha gave me an empty smile, "I'm surprised you managed to dodge all that. Your reflexes and speed are commendable. But you have no weapons, you have lost."

On cue, both my sword and shield gravitated around her, like she was a planet and they were mere satellites. Her own shield joined them as I realised what my plight was.

Thankfully, I was somewhat prepared for something like this.

Well, that was technically a lie. Even with NZT, I didn't have the time to develop a fighting style without my weapon of choice, but - for once - my lazy childhood was what came to my rescue. I had seen all twenty-six of Ryu-Long Jin's martial arts adventures as a kid, and while the movies were as staged as any reality show you could name, Ryu-long was a bona-fide martial-arts genius.

And I had seen enough of his fighting style for NZT to help me replicate it... Or at least a bastardized version of it.

I took his basic stance, noticing Pyrrha's eyes widen, surprise by my defiance. The surprise quicky morphed into a genuine smile when she realized that the fight was nowhere near over.

"You should posture when you win, Pyrrha." I stated as I all but disappeared from her view. All my aura was concentrated around my legs and arms. It shifted upwards through my back as I stopped next to her, mid-kick.

Neither of the two shields in her possession could reach the point of impact in time, so she simply blocked with her spear, she wasn't expecting her spear to snap under the force of my kick. The sheer force of the kick connected with her midriff and knocked her off her feet. She landed a few feet away, regaining her bearings just in time to block my coming punch with her shield.

I was forced to jump back as my own sword almost impaled me through my chest. I didn't have aura concentrated around my torso, so any hit would be lethal. Pyrrha didn't know enough about aura-sensing to be able to tell that, so I was in very real danger here.

I distanced myself as Pyrrha started firing at me with all three projectiles available to to her. She was buying time, but for what? As I dodged my own shield, I realized what she was up to. All the bullets in the pouch on her waist were now circling around her. It was a testament to her control over her semblance that she was able to control so many objects.

It was also very bad for me, cause I was pretty sure that these bullets would home in on me.

Faced with certain doom, NZT took over again. A hundred different scenarios ran their course through my head, each resulting in either loss or death, till my mind pointed out the one plan with the highest chance of success.

I knew _exactly_ what to do.

All my aura concentrated around my legs and I jumped as high as I could. Pyrrha's eyes followed me on my trajectory up. I knew she wouldn't shoot my while I was still in the air, so she aimed at where I would land.

I knew that would happen, which is why I landed in the most explosive way possible. All my aura - concentrated into my right arm - impacted the floor like a bloody jackhammer.

And the arena _shattered_.

Pyrrha lost her concentration, and her bullets crashed around her. She put up both the shields between myself and her as I launched myself off the ground towards her, alternating my aura between my legs and right arm.

I punched right through her shield, and left a gigantic dent in my own. I was close enough to her now to see the fear in her eyes. I made the aura travel to my left arm, even with the amount left, it would be enough to rip through her aura with ease. I cocked back the punch as Pyrrha closed her eyes, accepting the inevitable.

... And the fight buzzer rang.

I was confused, till the NZT let the commentator's voice through.

"-estant Jaune Arc's aura is in the red zone! After coming back from what felt like oblivion, Pyrrha Nikos snatches away victory to claim the title for a fourth time!"

In front of me, Pyrrha opened her eyes. Her ears were assaulted by the sudden eruption of noise coming from the stands. She looked at me once again snd gulped. She knew well enough that had this been a real fight, she would have lost. She understood that she was not as Invincible as the media painted her out to be...

... And that was all that mattered.

I shrugged, picking up my weapons. My shield was busted beyond repair, refusing even to shift back into its compact form. I simply carried it on my arm, with my sword in the other.

And without saying a word to Pyrrha, I left.

* * *

"So, Shade academy, huh? Never thought you'd pick that over Haven."

Nebula gave me a genuine smile, she was being a lot less frugal with those since the tournament. She and Pyrrha made up too. They even promised to have a re-match at next year's Vytal festival. I was dragged into the promise as well, much to my chagrin. I didn't even think Pyrrha could be as stubborn as she had been when demanding a re-match. When I refused, she gave me an ultimatum. I would either pay her for new weapons to replace the ones I had destroyed, or I would promise her a re-match.

Considering how complex (read 'expensive) her set of weapons were, I really had only one choice.

"Vacuo is my home, Jaune. As much as I like Mistral, I haven't seen my family for the better part of a year. I'd rather not make that four years."

I nodded. "Well, maybe I'll end up there too. Who knows? None of the schools have approached me yet. Maybe they just weren't convinced by little 'ole me?"

Nebula snickered, "Sure, Mr. arena-wrecker. None of the schools want someone as crazy as you, do they now?"

I shrugged, "I was hoping they'd see past my brusque exterior and find the heart of gold that lies inside."

Both of us laughed, Nebula did so a bit longer than me. "You'll be approached, mark my words. Pyrrha was approached by Professor Ozpin herself. Maybe one of the headmasters will come meet you too?"

I gave her a wry grin. "Well then, I'll just have to be on my best behavior, I guess."

Nebula's smile kept strong as we walked past half-a-dozen airships. I didn't know what to say to her. Off NZT, I'd never been good at goodbyes. It was humanizing to know that some things can't simply be changed by ingesting a miracle drug.

"Hey Jaune, promise me something."

I looked at Nebula, taking in the wistful expression on her face. "Sure, shoot."

She inhaled deeply, summoning the courage needed to say her goodbyes. "Jaune, you're going to be big one day. You have talent, skills and heritage on your side. You're going to be a huntsman of a caliber much higher than mine. Don't try to deny it, you know it is true." she shut me up by putting a finger on my lips.

"Just... when you're there on the top, don't forget all this... don't forget me. Okay?"

I responded by locking my lips with her. There was real passion in the kiss, even a hint of love. It wasn't an action simply to sate lust, this was the first meaningful kiss of my life.

"You'll always be important to me, Nebula. You helped me when no one else wanted to." I responded, wiping a tear that had appeared in her right eye. "Stop crying, okay? You promised me you wouldn't."

She shook her head. "I'm sorry... I didn't want a relationship before, but now that I do, we're going to be on completely different continents."

I gave her a kind smile. "You don't know that, Neb. For all you know, I might get scouted to Shade too."

"That's not how it works, Jaune. The four headmasters have a pact. Each year, they can lay their claim on exactly one competitor. It's a code-of-honor thing. Vale has chosen, Vacuo has chosen. You're probably going to go to either Atlas or stay here.

I sighed, "I'll go through the official entrance then, I'll join Shade too."

She raised an eyebrow, "And throw away the advantage you've gained, that you worked so hard for? Jaune. I need you to realize that success needs to matter more to you than love. You're going to be a huntsman, don't throw away the advantage you've worked to hard for."

I was silent for a while, for once, my NZT powered mind was out of answers to give.

"This cannot happen now, Jaune. You'll go to an academy too. Maybe you'll find someone else, maybe you'll move on. Maybe I"ll move on, but in case we don't, you've already made a promise to me, remember?"

I let out a dry chuckle, "Indeed I have."

She grimaced. "Don't be this way, Jaune. We'll stay in touch. There are so many inter-school competitions and joint missions too, it isn't like we aren't going to meet for four years."

A little bit of strength returned to my smile. "Yeah, I guess so. I'll compete in all of them if you do the same."

She crossed her hands over her breasts and huffed, "Of course I will, I want to beat both you and Pyrrha, duh."

I couldn't help but laugh at that. The airship behind her started letting out beeps, prompting passengers to climb aboard. She quickly pressed her lips against mine once more.

"I'll miss you, Jaune." she whispered, then turned tail and ran into the airship. I stood there till the airship took off.

"I'll miss you too, Neb-Neb."

* * *

Today was the day. Three days since the tournament had ended. I had yet to recieve and invite to any of the academies, so I still went to classes In Gammon during the day.

One month had passed since I was given my second batch of pills. I had managed to save exactly two pills over the course of said month, even with the old pills added. I thought about taking one before I entered the building, just so that I could savor the feeling of control it gave me one last time, but I didn't.

I wanted to do this right.

As I walked in, the bored secretary didn't even glance at me, instead opening the door to Lucas' office. I took that as an invitation to simply walk in, and so I did.

What I found in there was a bit different than usual.

Another man sat in the room with Lucas, I didn't need NZT to realize that this man was powerful. The way he carried himself, the militaristic haircut and the insignia of the Atlesian army pinned to his lapel told me that this person was someone important. He even had cybernetic implants, those were much too expensive for most people to afford.

"Umm, should I come back later?" I asked, not wanting to interfere.

Lucas waved his hand and pointed to a seat across the table. "No, no Jaune! Take a seat! We were just discussing you! Amazing match against Pyrrha Nikos, by the way. You've been using NZT to its full potential."

I scratched the back of my head in embarrassment. "Well, the drug is pretty amazing, to be honest."

"We know that, Jaune Arc. Prior users have tried to attack this compound for pills before, you know? It might not be a physically addictive substance, but the mental addiction it causes is something else"

It was the man who spoke, the sheer tone of authority in his voice reaffirmed my suspicion, he was someone pretty high up the food chain.

"Have any of them ever succeeded? I mean, this place is hardly well-protected." I asked. The man was silent for a second, and then he laughed, surprising me immensely.

"Well, most of them never got past a week worth of dosage before going catatonic. Some were a bit more resilient, till they died, of course."

My heart missed a good trio of beats. NZT was deadly? Why wasn't I told?

"To answer your unasked question, Jaune, yes, NZT has the potential to be deadly. Users generally suffer complete nervous breakdown within days of taking the pills. You've lasted five weeks, and your vitals are perfect. If they weren't, we'd have you off dosage before the side effects became threatening!" Lucas chirped, as if the fact that I had been on a potentially life-ending drug for over a month was something ordinary.

"The drug has been tested on over a thousand individuals over the four nations, and you - Jaune Arc - are the only person who is completely resistant to it." the mystery man commented.

"We surmise that the reason behind your immunity to the drug is because you have the recessive genes of both your parents. Going back through your family tree, there are other individuals who have similar genetic traits. You've gotten almost all the traits related to quick healing and longevity. Basically, the chances of someone like you existing are approximately one in ten Billion. " Lucas added.

"Essentially, the chance of us finding someone else like you, capable of handling a drug that makes one superhuman, is almost impossible." the mystery man continued.

I was silent for a good minute. "So, basically, i'm the only one who can take this drug safely."

The mystery man nodded. "And we are capable of providing you NZT, more than you'd know what to do with."

I nodded, "Okay, but what do you want me to do with it?"

Lucas shrugged. "We'll train you. We'll put you on missions that we cannot process ourselves. You know, we teach you, we get to use you and whatnot."

I raised an eyebrow. "I'm already training to be a huntsman, you could have just waited till I passed out of a huntsman academy."

The mystery man shook his head. "Time is a luxury we have little of. Things are afoot, Jaune. Even being in my position, a lot of the things that are happening make little sense. It doesn't help that the people I once trusted are keeping me in the dark." he sighed, adjusting his metal arm." I need someone young on my side. Someone useful, someone who can understand and act. I want a huntsman who is a little bit above human."

I nodded. "And you think that person is me?"

He nodded right back. "It took you one month to go from dunce to ace, Jaune. With NZT, only the sky is the limit."

I sighed. "I don't know you guys. I don't know what you're playing at. You know my family, and you know they will find me. You can't threaten me, so what do you have to offer me?"

The man leaned back in his chair, "I can guarantee you admission into Alsius, I can guarantee you training from real, live huntsmen, and I can guarantee you an unlimited supply of NZT."

My eyes widened in surprise. "Wait, you can get me into Alsius?"

The man was confused for a second. "You don't know who I am... do you, Jaune?"

I shook my head, maybe NZT me would recognize him. His face did carry a few hints of familiarity, after all.

The man sighed, "Well, I am James Ironwood, General of the Atlesian army and headmaster of Alsius academy. So, I ask you, Jaune Arc, do we have a deal." he offered his hand, and I took no time in accepting it. It was a deal too good to be true, and I had nothing to lose.

"I'm glad we've reached an accord, Mr. Arc. I would appreciate it if you can pack all your bags and meet me in the Mistral airstrip by seven in the evening." Ironwood requested, even though his tone made it sound almost like a command.

"Wait, where are we going?" I asked, still shocked over the revelation that I was currently talking to one of the most important men on Remanant.

"We're going to Atlas, duh. Best pack something warm!" Lucas commented, asking the secretary to show me out.

Well, seems like things were going to become a lot more interesting.

* * *

 **So, here's chapter two. Chapter three will come out after the next chapter of Metempsychosis, so hold your horses!**

 **Also, I'm streaming on twitch under the name Kilm3. Feel free to join in anytime!**

 **-CruelRuin**


	3. Chapter 3 - Goodbye to a World

**Hello there!**

 **So, I've been doing some research into Japanese mythology and their underworld for Metempsychosis, so I thought I'd update this for the time being. have fun!**

* * *

 **Beyond the Bounds**

 **Chapter 3 – Goodbye to a World**

* * *

Bullheads and I had never mixed. Hell, any non-terrestrial method of transportation generally rendered me borderline catatonic. It came as a surprise, then, that I felt not even a single modicum of nausea as I sat in General Ironwood's military-requisitioned bullhead. It wasn't a comfortable ride – not in the slightest. Military bullheads were furnished much less adequately compared to their civilian-spec counterparts. They flew faster, but at the cost of comfort.

I should have barfed at least a dozen times till now, but there was no nausea, not anymore.

"Aura is a pretty wonderful thing, you know?" Other me piped up from his seat across mine, right between two of Ironwood's soldiers. The fact that they didn't see him was enough to prove that other me was just a by-product of my NZT-fuelled mind, and not some – rather useless – semblance.

I had nothing against clone-based semblances, but I would rather not have one. Semblances like that had a fatal flaw when faced with people who could sense aura. Anyone with a halfway-decent training in Aura control and manipulation would have no trouble finding and concentrating on the original.

Plus, that kind of semblance just didn't mesh with both my personality and fighting style. It wasn't uncommon for huntsmen to get semblances that forced them to rethink the entire way they fought, but semblances were heavily reliant on personality. While cases were rare, having a drastic change of heart could also change a person's semblance.

Would me being on NZT register as a different personality?

"You don't really know enough about semblance mechanics to say that definitively." Other me chimed in. I wanted to throw a snide retort at him, but I didn't want to let my escorts get the impression that I was a loon who liked talking to an empty seat.

So I just stuck with the tried-and-tested death glare.

"Don't shoot the messenger, man. You were the one that decided to unravel the mysteries of aura before worrying about your semblance. Hell, the way you've charted out your plan for self-betterment places semblance research lower than even dust research. How come?" There was a genuine curiosity in his voice, echoing the small amount of doubt I had considering my training approach. The answer was quite simple, actually.

No two Arcs had ever manifested the same semblance. Well, that was technically a lie, but not too far from the truth. My sister, Jade, did have a bastardized version of my father's telekinetic semblance. The differences between the two were enough to label them as different semblances, though. I had no prior knowledge to ascertain whether or not my semblance would even be useful in combat scenarios. Two of my sisters had semblances that weren't combat-oriented, but they were still pro-huntswomen.

So, why would I spend time seeking an uncertain source of possible power when I had so many other fields of growth available to me?

"So, why the uncertainty, boss?"

To answer my clone's question, I'd have to acquiesce that even though the uncertainties that shrouded them, semblances were possibly the quickest method of gaining a significant boost to power. While a number of semblances didn't really serve combat purposes, others could be the difference between life and death. Take my other sister's semblance, for example. Mauve Arc's semblance controlled localized nuclear fission. In her hands, even the smallest of rocks could be used as a high-grade explosive. While it took a lot of her energy to use, it was by far her greatest tool in combat too.

Only the strongest semblances received names. Her semblance was one of these. 'Explosive radius' is what she named it, and it kind of fit too.

"So, let me get this right. You believe you could receive a semblance that powerful yourself?" Other me asked. I nodded. Semblances varied in type based on personality, and in strength based on strength of character. Considering my NZT-created persona, it was highly likely that my semblance would be something great, but one uncertainty still plagued me.

"You're scared that your semblance might not take this drug-fuelled personality into account, aren't you?" Clone me taunted. Again, I nodded. Jaune Arc without NZT was – for lack of a better word – flaky. There was a possibility that if I actively started pursuing methods to unlock my semblance, I'd just be wasting my time on something... pointless.

"Makes sense, boss. You've reached a pretty high level with your aura control. Dust theory is up next, isn't it?"

Dust, it was the one thing that excited me the most. There were so many methods of using dust that were borderline inaccessible to all but the most trained of minds. NZT already provided me with a method of control. So – with some research – it was only a matter of time before I'd be able to use even the most difficult dust-based techniques.

And the very idea that soon, I'd be able to tame the very elements themselves was enough to give me a mental boner.

"We're descending. You might want to get your seatbelts on, gentlemen." The co-pilot's voice blared over the speaker system. I did as asked and looked out the window on my side. The craggy, brown lands of Mistral had been long-replaced by deep-blue Ocean, far as the eye could see. Now, though, everything I saw was pure white.

I was glad I was wearing a warm doublet. The temperature in the bullhead was controlled, but I didn't want to be incapacitated by frostbite when I landed. I'd only been in Atlas once, that too as a kid. I didn't want to end up with pneumonia again.

Even if I did, at least I wouldn't be ruining a family holiday this time around.

"If you're worried about catching a cold, you should stop. Your aura prevents most common illnesses as long as you keep it up." Ironwood spoke up from his seat. He'd probably seen me adjust my doublet. I realized that none of his soldiers or him were wearing anything particularly warm either. "Plus, keeping your aura up constantly should be good training to increase your reserves."

I noted his point and provided him a gracious nod. "I'm frankly more curious about why you've asked me to transfer to Alsius this early. Isn't the current term still in progress?"

"Well, you'll be officially relegated to Alsius when the term starts in a few month. Till then, you're going to be working with us in Atlas."

My eyes widened at the implication. Alsius was just a branch of Atlas, which served as both the military headquarters and training academy for the nation. The fact that Ironwood had used the word 'Atlas' meant that I'd be working directly with the military.

"You must have questions, Jaune. They will be answered shortly, but in private." Ironwood pretty much stopped me before I could pose any questions. I settled deeper into my chair as the bullhead began its descent. I'd get my answers in time.

For now, I'd just have to wait.

* * *

I was not ready for Atlas.

Not the city itself. I'd seen it before, so the technology that made this winter wonderland stand out came as no shock to me. What did catch my attention was the academy-cum-military base.

It was a technological marvel within a technological marvel.

Walkways with no pillars to balance on held up by magnetic pads. Automatons working around-the-clock to keep the premises running. Completely digitalized libraries containing a wealth of information not available to most of the world. Holographic terminals for providing direction. If you've seen it in a sci-fi movie, it was probably here.

"This base has been operational for over a decade, and it still awes me every time I walk in," Ironwood stated, walking next to me. I didn't know where he was leading me, neither did I care. My eyes had landed on something so far out of the realms of fiction that I couldn't process its mere presence.

"Is that a goddamned railgun?"

Ironwood slowly nodded. The thing itself was huge. It took up a large part of one of the hangars and sat on a rotating platform made out of solid Iron and concrete. "It's one of our R&D team's pet projects. It was what we used last year to shoot down a Vividen outside national boundaries. While the recoil did rip the cannon straight out of the ground, the Vividen was mortally wounded by the shot."

I was positively chuffed by this point. "Screw becoming a huntsman, how does one join this R&D team of yours?"

Ironwood smiled. "Our R&D team is mostly comprised of engineers and scientists with over ten years of experience in similar positions in eminent companies. Don't worry, you _will_ be working with them. The analytical and developmental power of a mind on NZT isn't something they're willing to let go of."

I raised an eyebrow, "Wait, they know of my… circumstances?"

"Who do you think manufactures the pill?"

My mind had already pointed out the fact right after I'd uttered the question, but I was still significantly cowed by my lack of oversight. "Fair point. So, I'm still going to primarily be a huntsman, aren't I?"

Ironwood nodded. "NZT is a magical drug, and the fact that you're an Arc already places you in running for positions of leadership. The charisma you can muster up and the ability to make borderline-perfect decisions on the fly reinforce your value as a leader."

I crossed my arms in front of my chest. "Alright, no. I've never worked with a team, let alone led one."

Ironwood shook his head. "I'm aware of your rather painful lack of huntsman-related experience. We'll be rectifying that before your first term begins. Tell me, do you know how Atlas and Alsius work?"

I shook my head. "The two organizations are symbiotic. We don't have pre-set teams here In Atlas. A lot of the practical knowledge we impart to our students comes from working directly with our army."

My eyes widened. "Wait, you throw out huntsmen-in-training on live missions? Isn't that kinda suicidal?"

Ironwood shook his head. "As militaristic as we are in our views, we do care about the health and safety of our students. The missions that they get are reflective of their capabilities. Most first years don't get anything more than the simplest of missions."

I raised an eyebrow, "Let me guess, I'm not going to get those missions, am I?"

"Regrettably, no. Considering the speed of your growth, you'll be more than a match for mid-to-top tier huntsmen by the time you even begin school. You're too valuable a person to be given simple missions."

I laughed. "You overestimate me, General."

"The fact that you have attained near-perfect control of variable aura application is enough to prove my hypothesis." He countered.

I shrugged. "Yeah sure, that's an advanced application of Aura. How hard can it be for someone to master it?

Ironwood chuckled. "Well, to answer that question, I'm past my prime, and I still haven't mastered that technique enough to use it reliably in combat."

"Doesn't that just speak of your ineptitude, though?"

If he was angered by my comment, he didn't show it. "Well, sure. But you don't become a general at my age by being inept. Tell me, Jaune. Would you call someone who could kill a horde of Goliath alone 'inept'?"

I gulped. Goliaths were Grimm that I'd only seen once, that too from a great distance. One young goliath was enough to set an entire colony of huntsmen – one that held our esteemed Arc compound – on high alert. The Goliath had not gone down easy.

Ironwood was claiming to have killed a whole horde of them.

"Point taken." I replied, gulping.

"Good. Now, do you understand what exactly it is that your potential holds?" He questioned. I nodded. "Good. Nice to know we're on the same page now."

"So, I can say goodbye to any delusions I had of living the life of a simple student?" I asked. Ironwood gave me a confused look.

"I'm quite surprised that you had any delusions of normalcy to begin with. The moment you survived your first week of NZT, you should have already known that there was no way that you'd live a normal life thereafter."

The reality of it struck me like a bag of bricks. I could no longer judge my life based on who I once was. I was a different person now.

The question was, how different?

* * *

"This, Jaune, is the mission room. You're supposed to report here every morning at eight whenever you are here."

I gave the room a once-over. Something about the fact that this was the mission room of a facility as professional-looking as Atlas didn't quite fit. Maybe it was because of the lack of any real screen, or maybe it was the coffee machine. If Ironwood hadn't informed me otherwise, I'd have pegged this place to be a simple lounge.

"If the upholstery confuses you, do know that this isn't the actual mission room. The huntsmen we have on-hand simply like this place more than our other room. Personally, I believe it's because of this room's proximity to easily-available coffee." Ironwood clarified. It was a well-known fact that most huntsmen practically lived off coffee. I could see why. All-nighter galore and endless traveling was part-and-parcel of the life of a huntsman. Caffeine was cheap and legal.

"That's perfectly fine. I was expecting something a lot more… structured." I winced as I saw Ironwood grimace. Apparently, moving his headquarters to this room wasn't really his idea. Huntsmen weren't the most professional bunch, after all.

"It was either this or insubordination. Our recent crop of huntsmen is primarily from Vale and Vacuo, and they don't respect authority all that much." Ironwood explained. Again, his statement left me with more questions than answers. Thankfully, he picked up on my confusion. "Alsius is a 'quality over quality' institution, Jaune. Unlike the other countries, we recruit very few students per year. Even out of the ones we do recruit, only one out of ten actually ends up certifying as a huntsman."

"And let me guess, the few that do graduate end up working in the military, don't they?"

Ironwood nodded. "The majority of our military is mechanized, so all real positions of leadership are held by huntsmen. Other than Vacuo, Atlas was once the nation with the lowest life expectancy. Do you know why?"

I shrugged. "Well, between the cold temperatures, generally bad public moral after losing the war and the presence of some of the oldest Grimm on Remnant, I'm quite surprised that Atlas even survived post-war."

Ironwood grunted. "That's an astute observation, and not entirely incorrect." My raised eyebrow was enough to point out to Ironwood that I didn't quite understand his point, so he continued. "As you know, our capital was once the city of Mantle. It was quite similar to Vale as a city. After the war, all the people in power came forward with the same points that you just put forth. For five years, Mantle was buffeted over-and-over again by the Grimm. The city is a mere ghost of itself now."

"So, their response to all that was the creation of Atlas. Still doesn't answer why your selection process for huntsmen is so meticulous." I pointed out.

"Mantle didn't originally create this city; you know? The only building here nine decades ago was Alsius academy. Mantle had its own military schools. While the other three huntsmen academies were simply built around their respective nations' military academies, Alsius was built miles away from Mantle." Ironwood stated, and things slowly became clearer. NZT was already starting to join the dots. All I needed now was a bit more data.

"Alsius was formed with only one objective in mind. Create a crop of huntsmen who wouldn't be anything less than perfect. No costs were cut on personnel or equipment. You need to understand how hard such an undertaking would be for a country so close to its own demise. You can imagine the pressure it put on the tutors. You can imagine what said pressure led to." Ironwood trailed away, letting the implications of his words hang.

"How many students died?" I asked, getting to the point.

"All the training given to the students was real-world based. While we do not have exact accounts from back then, most believe that around one hundred and ten students were originally admitted into the academy." Ironwood was hesitating, stalling for time. Even I could feel my heart sink. NZT had finally put two-and-two together.

The story of Atlas' first huntsman was a full-blown legend, after all.

"One student passed, Inhert Crimson." I finished for him. The 'crimson wake' he was called. He was a warrior beyond compare. My Great-grandfather was a wartime hero, and still, his exploits couldn't hold a candle to Inhert's storied legends.

"Yes, he became the ideal of all huntsmen to follow. He became a beacon of hope for a dying nation. More importantly, he set a precedent. He was the combination of raw talent and hard work. A prodigy, tempered by the toughest training a man could possibly endure. After Alsius made him, it became painfully clear that the public wouldn't expect anything less from us." Ironwood almost whispered.

"So, you only recruit the best of the best, and then you go a step further." I finished, and Ironwood nodded.

"Inhert bought us the time needed to create the city of Atlas. He brought us time to create automated defenses to keep our city safe. He gave the populace a reason to believe in huntsmen, a way to perceive them differently from the soldiers that had lost them the great war. And thus, Alsius became Atlas, and our nation switched capitals and names." Ironwood finally concluded, taking in a deep sigh and regaining his stony visage.

"Well, this puts a lot of things into perspective for me. I always thought Atlas' selection process was based on familial connections." I spoke, eliciting a smile from Ironwood. He knew where this was coming from. Two of my sisters had applied for Atlas and never gotten in.

"Well, you are the first Arc to come to our humble school. If we cared about your name, your sisters would be here too, wouldn't they?"

I chuckled. "Well, they ended up going to Vacuo instead. They've still got one year to go before they graduate. They still hurl obscenities anytime someone so much as says the word 'Atlas'."

Another laugh emanated from Ironwood. This time, it was a lot more heartfelt. "While I have nothing against your sisters, they simply lacked what it took to graduate from here. While they definitely met the selection criteria, I didn't want them to waste a year here before realizing they couldn't make it. I owe your father enough to not let that happen."

"And yet, here you are, standing in a room with the black sheep of the Arc family."

"Jaune, in the history of our institute, we've never had a direct entry." Ironwood stated. Again, I raised an eyebrow. I was pretty sure that Nebula had told me something about Atlas scouting potential students from tournaments around remnant.

"Generally, Atlas scouts for jobs, not to fill up seats in Alsius. I do not like tournaments personally and don't go to any save the Vytal festival. Even in that case, I go because my presence is borderline mandatory" Ironwood answered my question before I could even pose it. Just how long had he been planning this conversation?

"So, all the students your headhunters have picked up at tournaments now work in the military?" I asked and was answered with a curt nod.

"Well, some actually end up taking detective work instead, but the majority now work in the army. Atlas has low population; you know? Hiring reliable personnel is a bit of a hassle when there is no one to hire."

"Fair point." I could only concur.

"So, why was it that we went out of our way to scout you?"

I grunted, "Well, I don't know, maybe it has something to do with the fact that I can safely take this drug that turns me into the world's most advanced supercomputer?"

Ironwood didn't openly react to my jab, not one bit. "And what, pray, do you think we've engineered NZT to replicate?"

Now that wasn't something I had even considered – off or on NZT. The drug's effects were so outlandish and unbelievable that linking it to any physical phenomenon was a notion that never so much as crossed my mind.

"Did you ever come across Inhert's semblance in any of the history books that mention him?" Ironwood asked.

"Well, yeah. He had a named semblance, didn't he?" I answered as NZT provided me the name. "I think it was called 'A beautiful mind'. Kinda tame as far as semblance nomenclature goes. There really wasn't any description of it though."

Ironwood chuckled. "There wasn't any description because his semblance wasn't one that manifested physically. His semblance was a simple one. It simply allowed his brain to interface with his body more effectively. It gave him abilities like eidetic memory, perfect recall etcetera. Sounds familiar?"

The realization didn't quite hit me as much as it barreled into me, much like a freight train would. "Wait, you're saying that NZT replicates the semblance of one of history's greatest huntsmen?"

Ironwood shook his head. "It doesn't just replicate his semblance, it enhances it. The drug was sanctioned in order to develop a crop of huntsmen who could _surpass_ Inhert. Sadly, the project fell through because of the drug's side effects…"

"…till I came along."

Ironwood sighed. "Yes, Jaune. You came along. Suddenly, our dream has turned into something that can truly be realized."

I shuddered at the incredulity of the very thought. "You think _I_ can become someone greater than Inhert _fucking_ Crimson? What kind of drugs are you on?"

"We aren't the ones on drugs here, Jaune. That would be you. You can take NZT, you can develop a semblance, you can be trained in arts of warfare that were previously unknown to us." Ironwood stated. "You have the pedigree, potential, and promise…"

"…and it is up to you to you to take it as far as humanly possible, and then beyond."

* * *

After Ironwood's revelation, I'd expected something exciting. What was this training regimen that he had planned for me? What kind of method would he use to help me manifest my destiny?

The answer was simple. Patrol Missions.

I'd never been on them before, so the first one excited me. Sure, I was kinda nervous too, considering I was in charge of cadets from the military and Atlesian Knight mechs. The nervousness soon changed into confidence when I realized how the general military goons saw us huntsmen, and then into boredom when I realized that the Atlesian Knights were more than capable of patrolling endlessly.

I had to marvel at the deadly efficiency of Atlesian mechs. They were a testament to how far Atlas had gotten in terms of technological advancement. The efficiency with which the robots killed Grimm was awe-inspiring. They definitely lacked the range of motion that humans possessed, but they made up for it through superior positioning algorithms, predictive aiming, and accuracy.

It was painfully easy to see that the Atlesian knights would find it borderline impossible to take down larger Grimm, but they were the ultimate border-guard force, considering larger Grimm rarely ever showed up near city boundaries.

Their mere presence made my involvement pointless. The Military border guard cadets working under me were interesting in their own right, but the only reason they were in this division of the military was that it was a borderline zero-stress, zero-effort job. The oldest cadet had been serving for three years now and had not personally seen combat more than four times. So, I'd supervise the patrols, would report back to Ironwood, get my NZT, and do what I did best.

Read.

The Atlas military library was possibly the biggest wealth of knowledge I had ever been provided with. If you could name a book – chances are – it would be in here. Of course, all books were digitalized, so I no longer had to read _in_ the library. My scroll was linked to the repository, and I read whenever I had the chance.

Reading about dust was possibly one of the best ways to get rid of the monotonous boredom of patrols.

Dust was – for lack of a better word – fascinating. Elemental power captured inside crystals buried far below the surface of the earth. It was what allowed humanity to fight back against the Grimm, and it was easy to see why. You could use Dust in a million different ways. Fill up a pouch with some uncut crystals and you have an elemental grenade. Grind down some dust into powder and you have dust rounds. Dust was the ultimate fuel, with a single lightning crystal of decent purity being capable of powering a small village for a week.

Explained why the Schnee dust company held the majority of Remnant in such a stranglehold.

It wasn't just the simpler usages of dust that caught my attention. Dust was one of the only naturally-occurring minerals that could interface directly with aura. There were multiple methods of usage, including dust eating and dust breathing, but only one of the methods caught my eye.

Dust synch. It was a skill created by one of the Schee slave knights after the war. It was one of the techniques used by Inhert Crimson, and allowed the user's aura to take on the properties of certain dust types. I had read through both the methodologies and practical applications of said skill but was much too scared to give it a try.

Dust backfire was common when trying Dust synch. Dust backfire was usually deadly too. It wasn't a risk I was willing to take right now. Something told me that in a pinch, it would be a useful technique to have, so I still kept the methodology in mind as I read through the hundreds of books I had cherry-picked out of the hundreds of thousands available to me.

Another such ability – or art – was dust weaving. Dust was extremely malleable, and that meant that some crazy seamstresses had tried to use it to create clothing. After trials, errors and many deaths, the art of dust weaving was created. It was one hell of a skill to both create and use garments with dust sown-in. It'd make for a pretty decent project later on, but I currently didn't have the time.

Maybe after completing my massive backlog of reading and physical conditioning, I'd learn how to sew.

Speaking of physical conditioning, Ironwood liked to drive me into the ground. His idea of learning to fight was to first make me do hours of weight training, then to throw me into an arena with one of his few experienced huntsmen. I wouldn't even get the time to recuperate from all my muscle pain before I'd be facing the blade of huntsmen twice my age.

It was fun, sure, but I was uncertain about the soundness of some of their minds. Who the hell tries to skewer his opponent through with a drill-lance in a practice spar?

Still, results were evident. In the month I'd spent here, my body had become a lot more defined. The people in the research department subjected me to bi-weekly tests, and they were quite surprised by my rate of growth. According to them, NZT worked better the smarter the recipient. I'd never thought of myself as a smart person, but apparently, I was ahead of the average; that too by quite a margin.

A sleeper genius. How quaint.

Still, one month was all it took me to get to the level of the best of Ironwood's currently-available huntsmen. It wasn't saying much, really. Only recently-graduated huntsmen were posted in Atlas. Any huntsman of above-average skill was always relocated to one of the outer bases, lulled into the frigid wastes of Solitas by the promise of power and prestige. The best huntsmen were always out on operations, keeping the country safe from both inner and outer threats.

And today, I was slated to face a huntsman that came from the second category. I had been given precious little information about my opponent. I did know that my opponent was a she and that she had graduated from Atlas three years ago. I knew that she had spent her last three years in one of the northern outposts and that she was coming back for a promotion.

Ironwood's logic was easy to see. He had predicted that I would be at the level of a mid-to-high skill huntsman. The reports from the research department had expedited that timeline. By making me fight a mid-to-high skill huntsman right now, Ironwood was trying to ascertain where I currently stood in terms of skill.

My scroll rang out in my hands. I swiped out of the e-reader app and read his message. It was a simple summons, but not to the mission room.

Ironwood was waiting, and I didn't plan to disappoint.

Before I left my room, I took one last look at myself in the mirror. NZT had changed me, and it was all welcome. I was no longer scraggly, with my sleeved tightening around my musculature. I didn't wear that unsure smile that was once my trademark any longer, in its place was a genuine look of confidence. I wanted to get a haircut because my hair always got into my eyes, but there was no barber in Atlas, and I wasn't allowed to go into the city without permission.

I wet my hand in the sink and ran it through my hair, slicking them backward. The resultant change in my visage was quite drastic. Suddenly, I looked a lot more professional. No longer was I an inept teen. I was a huntsman, a beacon of hope for the masses.

I damn well needed to look the part.

"Now if only I could get some new clothes…" I grumbled as I left the room, closing the door behind me.

* * *

"We both know that this is a waste of my time, General."

Entering the arena, I was greeted by a cold, unfamiliar voice. As I walked in, I found a face to attach the voice to.

And boy, what a face it was. Pure alabaster skin stretched over high cheekbones, framed by neat, white hair. The woman was beautiful beyond measure, but not in the same way as Nebula or Pyrrha were. This woman was a queen, and she fucking knew it. If the Schnee emblem on her sword's pommel was anything to go by, the 'queen' bit might as well be literal.

Ironwood smiled. "Ah, hello Jaune. Meet your opponent, Winter Schnee."

Yep, had her pegged for a Schnee heiress the moment I walked in.

"I know you." Said Schnee commented, a smidge of incredulity seeped into her voice as she continued. "You're Mauve's youngest brother, aren't you?"

Oh? So the queen knew my sister? In hindsight, it wasn't the most surprising thing. My sister, Mauve, had also graduated three years ago from Beacon. There was a possibility that she and Winter could have met before – either on a mission or one of the inter-school competitions. Probably the latter, considering Mauve had never worked in Atlas.

"Yeah, I'm Jaune Arc-" I began, but was cut off by the woman.

"I know; I've been to your house. You probably don't remember me, but I was Mauve's rival… and closest friend." Winter spoke, raising my confusion by magnitudes. This was an impossible development. NZT gave me _perfect_ recall. I'd have remembered a face like hers with or without it. I cast my mind back, creating an exhaustive list of every friend Mauve had ever brought home. Exhaustive, because Mauve was a proper socialite.

Then, I remembered.

"Wait, you're _that_ winter? The one who used to wear goth clothes and dye her hair black? No wonder you never gave us your last name!" I blurted out. Winter's face gained the color and consistency of red-hot magma.

"I would like it if you didn't mention any of that." Winter was seething at this point. Sadly, my mouth was already in motion.

"I mean, _whoa_! You used to look like a supermodel back then too, but my sisters believed you were into BDSM and didn't want to fraternize all that much with you. They'd be so surprised if they saw you now!" Apparently, I had no stop button. I quickly took out my scroll and took a photo of her – much to her surprise. I was mid-process, sending the photo to the family messaging group when my Scroll suddenly disappeared from my hand.

"You're still as belligerent as you were back then, are you not, Jaune?" Her glare finally helped me connect the dots between the mental image I had of her and her current visage. Only Winter could give someone such a flower-wilting, ground-melting glare.

"I'll be taking that back." I stated as I retrieved my scroll from her hands. My aura-enhanced movement was too fast for her to follow, and I was rewarded by both my scroll's safe return and a look of bewilderment on her face.

"T-that was variable aura control!" Excitement broke through her stoic visage for a full second, before she reigned it back in. "I see you're not as inept as you once were. Last I heard from Mauve, she told me you'd unlocked your aura merely two months ago. She must be mistaken."

I shook my head. "Nope, that's the amount of time it's taken me to get decent with this skill."

She grinned. "Oh, so the black sheep of the Arc family has suddenly become a prodigy? Tell me, does proximity to a pretty woman still render you catatonic?"

I smiled, "Well, I'm standing here right now, and I feel fine."

Winter's smirk never left her face. "Smooth, Jaune. Smooth." She spoke. "General, I'll agree to your wager. There's no way in hell that I'm planning to lose today."

I raised an eyebrow. "A wager, eh? Mind filling me in on the details?"

Ironwood shrugged. "Eh, it's just a small change in your team order. Win or lose, you're both still getting a mission from the active roster."

I sighed. It couldn't possibly be such a trivial matter if Winter had been calling it a waste of her time when I entered the arena. Ironwood simply didn't want to tell me. I couldn't slight him for that. All I had to do was to give this fight my all.

…which was already the plan, considering I wanted to wipe that smirk off Winter's face really, _really_ bad.

* * *

As I and Winter took our positions, Ironwood rode the levitating platform to the referee podium. Both our aura-bars appeared on the screen behind him. I noticed how my aura-bar filled up much slower than Winter's. It was a testament to the fact that my aura capacity was far higher than Winter's – a fact that she seemed to pick up on almost instantly.

"This duel shall last for a minute and a half. Standard Atlas rules apply." Ironwood spoke into the microphone. People were slowly beginning to fill up the spectator stands. I caught the eyes of some of the senior students from Alsius. I'd met a few of them in passing, but never spoken to any of them at length. The only reason they were staying back after the end of their semesters was to complete missions for extra credits. I was Pretty sure they'd come here to see someone around their age destroyed by a pro-huntsman.

Too bad for them, I was hell-bent on denying the very possibility of that happening.

"So, I face an Arc again. Didn't think it'd be you, though." Winter drew a familiar-looking dueling Saber from its sheath. Unlike the blade of Crocea Mors, her sword had a single edge. I could tell just by looking at it that her weapon was made for speed and durability. I was sure it had seen at least half a decade of use, but looking at the blade, anyone else would be forgiven for calling the blade pristine.

I'd seen that weapon in action before, against my own sister. I knew that Winter was one of the few huntsmen who didn't rely on firearms for ranged alternatives.

My major concern was her semblance. The Schnee semblance was hereditary. Before they became businessmen, the Schnee family were primarily soldiers. Their semblance had seen decades worth of research, and it was the kind of semblance that made good use of said research.

Schnee glyphs were best explained like mathematical theorems. Different variables gave different results. It was the variables themselves that determined the strength and utility of their effects. Using Schnee glyphs in conjunction with dust was what made Winter such a formidable opponent, even against my sister, who had a named semblance herself.

I didn't even have a semblance, let alone one that could rival either Winter's or Mauve's, but I did have something they didn't.

"Fight!" Ironwood yelled, and Winter's Glyphs manifested under both her and me. I felt my body get heavier. It would have been debilitating for another huntsman - to have impaired movement – but I hadn't planned to move much in this match anyways.

Her own glyph was wind-dust based. I had seen this attack before. The chances of dodging her at the speed she'd be launched at were next-to-none. This is where most huntsmen would panic and secede.

Thankfully, I was not most huntsmen.

Winter closed the hundred-feet-gap between the two of within a fraction of a second, but I was already in motion. NZT had calculated her angle of launch, the predicted location of her thrust and her angled of deviation. At this point, all I had to do was move into a position where she couldn't hit me.

And counter her.

One step to the right was all it took. Winter tried to change course, but doing so at her speed would only end with her breaking her ankles. She saw me cock back my fist – not even deigning to draw my blade against her – and she felt the pain that followed.

Winter was sent flying out of the arena by my Aura-infused punch. To her credit, she'd managed to mitigate all damage by using another slowing glyph on me right as I launched my attack and blocking with variable aura control of her own.

Sadly, even as she landed on her feet outside the arena, the deed was done. Her momentum, coupled with the judicious increase it had gotten via the stopping power of my punch, had sealed her loss.

"Winner by ring out, Jaune Arc!"

It wasn't till the audience started cheering that I realized how many people had shown up to the battle in the fifteen seconds that had elapsed between me entering the arena and the fight beginning. The fight itself had lasted merely a second or two – possibly a record, but it had to be so. Had I fought Winter honourably, or by other regional rules, there was a high possibility of my loss.

This method was simply the most… hassle-free.

"Do you have no honor, Jaune Arc?" Winter spoke from her position under the arena. She had yet to re-sheathe her weapon. Her face was lit with the fires of wrath. The only thing stopping her from lunging at me was Ironwood's glare.

"There is no honor in defeat, Winter, or have you forgotten that for huntsmen, the words 'defeat' and 'death' are usually synonymous?" Ironwood questioned, jumping down from the podium in a show of dexterity unusual for one his age.

Winter was sufficiently cowed by Ironwood's words. Her seething anger lessened, giving way to shame. Her head dropped. "Yes, sir… good fight, Arc."

"If it is any consolation, had I fought you head on, chances of me winning were very low." I retorted, unknowingly throwing more fuel on the fire.

"You were able to understand that and plan your battle accordingly," Ironwood interjected. "To me, that is a very telling sign of someone's leadership and planning ability. I trust that Winter will see it too, once she is able to calm down."

Winter gulped audibly, she knew that tone of voice too well from her time as a student. She did not want to argue with Ironwood when he was irritated.

"We shall reconvene in the mission room in the evening. I expect both of you to leave any animosity you have for the other behind when we meet." Ironwood commanded and walked out of the arena.

I took one look at Winter. I'd seen her lose to my sister before, and her reaction to that loss was just as bad as now – if not worse. I thought back to exactly what Mauve had done after the fight to secure Winter's friendship. When I saw the white-haired beauty, I saw both a powerful ally and a potential teacher.

After all, who understood dust better than a Schnee?

Mind made up, I walked up to Winter, who hadn't moved from that one position since her loss. As I closed in on her, she gave me a withering glare. "What is it, Arc? Came to gloat?"

I shook my head. "No, I would never do that. My victory was cheap, and I know that I am nowhere near your level as a huntsman."

Winter chucked sarcastically. "Ah, pity, I see. You Arcs are all the same, aren't you?"

I shook my head. "Well, the majority of us are girls, so our similarities generally tend to end at our shared surname."

Winter was silent for a second. "So, what do you want?"

"Well, I was hoping you'd join me for a cup of coffee. Something tells me that we're going to be working together for a while now, and I'd like to know my ally a bit better."

Winter was completely silent for a second. "Are you… hitting on me?"

No amount of NZT could hold back the blush that took over my face. "Ah! No! I just wanted to talk… maybe learn from you! I wasn't hitting on you… unless it was working, of course. Wait, what the hell am I even saying!?"

I was stopped by a melodious laugh, a genuine laugh, from Winter. "You're an interesting one, all right. You're just like Mauve was at your age."

I smiled. "Well, join me for a coffee and let my social ineptitude prove you wrong."

Winter smiled back. "Well then, let's go, shall we?"

* * *

"Wow, that's one good coffee you make. I take it you have practice?"

I nodded, pouring out a cup for myself. This was all part of the Arc household curse. Only male Arcs knew how to properly brew a good cup of coffee. It might sound stupid, but I had already verified the number of occasions that one of my sisters or my mother had ended up adding salt to coffee.

That was just a minor offense. It was replacing the cream with Mayonnaise that really took the cake.

"Let's just say that making coffee was my way of paying back my family for failing to join a junior huntsman academy." I whispered. There was no use hiding it. My family was split into two halves – one who loved me despite my failings, and one which distanced itself from me every time I fucked up.

Mauve was a part of the second group.

"I know that much. Mauve was quite clear that you were not… huntsman material." Winter solemnly commented.

"You don't have to mince words, Winter. I know that Mauve was always in direct opposition to me trying to be a huntsman." Like my mother and two of my other sisters, she didn't hate me. She just didn't like seeing me repeatedly hurt myself through multiple rejections.

"Well, you seem to have proved her wrong. She was nowhere near as resourceful or powerful as you at this age." Winter tried to be diplomatic. She could afford it because Mauve didn't truly master her semblance till her third year at Beacon.

After that, her power and prowess rose tremendously.

"Well, let's just say I'm a late bloomer, shall we?" I tried to change the topic. Thankfully, Winter wanted the same.

"I'll drink to that." Winter graciously commented, taking a sip of her coffee. "While I appreciate the coffee and conversation, Jaune. Why is it that you have called me here?"

"I want to learn about Dust and how to use it with Aura." I got straight to the point. There was no use dilly-dallying. Winter was a woman of action, and I could tell that she appreciated people who shot straight.

Plus, I didn't want to take my chances at discourse. Winter was a Schnee, and hence a trained diplomat. A message from Ironwood had already alerted me that she knew nothing about NZT. I'd rather not have that knowledge wheedled out of me by a smooth-talking friend of my sister's.

"And why would you want to ask _me_ specifically?"

I chuckled. "A family made rich by dust mining, a hereditary semblance that can be manipulated in thousands of ways using dust, known for using the rare skill of 'Dust-synchro'. You tell me?"

Winter nodded. "Fair point. I must say, you've gotten a lot more cunning, haven't you?"

I shrugged. "It's an eat-or-be-eaten world, Winter. I need to use every advantage I get."

Winter put down her cup and crossed her arms over her breasts. The hot-headed teen that was I couldn't help but notice how it subtly enhanced her bust. Another downside of NZT, you notice and remember everything.

Not that remembering a beauty like Winter was a hard task, to begin with.

"What do I gain from this?" She asked, and my mind was ready with a list of reasons why.

"For one, you'll gain a more useful partner. If I know Ironwood, we're going to be working together for a while. You don't want someone inept watching your back, do you?" I knew that my first reason was enough, but I had more. "Secondly, I've done some in-depth research on your semblance. It's basically a mathematical matrix, and I'm _very_ good at math. Understanding aura would help me help you make better use of your gifts."

"Finally, you get to lord the fact that you trained me in front of my sister. Eternal bragging rights if I end up becoming a top-tier huntsman."

Winter sighed. "You had me at your first point, Jaune, but considering what all you're offering – especially point three – I don't see a problem in this trade."

"Glad we came to a mutual understanding." I smiled.

* * *

I spent the next few hours learning about dust typing and aura-wavelength from Winter. I knew about Aura wavelength from the Aura theory books, but the way Winter explained the concept raised a number of valid points about the very nature of aura.

Namely, it's dual nature.

I wasn't a physics prodigy by any means (yet) but even I understood what the difference between particle motion and wave motion. I knew the theory that light had a dual-nature because it had both kinds of motion.

What Winter told me was that my aura too followed a similar principle, except a lot more controlled. Whoever called Aura 'the light of the soul' was on to something.

More so, to synchro dust with aura, one had to harmonize one's aura with the type of dust the user planned to synchro with. This – in turn – was a hit-and-try method based on the intensity of dust provided. More so, if the user was unable to mimic the nature of the dust he was synchro-ing with, the technique could harm or kill the user.

I put the idea in the back of my mind. While I had faith in NZT, I'd rather study the nature of dust types before even trying to dust synchro.

On the other hand, she taught me the various alternative uses of dust. Wind dust to break a fall, gravity dust to destabilize moving enemies and a combination of fire and water dust as a makeshift steam-bomb to impair visibility.

Of course, none of this befitted me till I found a way to use dust, that is to get a weapon capable of firing or channeling it. Still, it was good to know.

We concluded our little learning session by spending some time with her glyphs. I got diagrams and functions of all her independent glyph types and set to work improving the designs wherever I could. By my predictions, I could cut her dependence on dust for various effects by at least forty percent. While she was skeptical about the whole Idea, I assured her that I'd work on optimizing her glyphs in my free time.

Time passes fast when one's having fun. To me, learning was fun, and Winter's presence made it all-the-more enjoyable. If she hadn't become a huntress, she'd make one hell of a teacher – bar the fact that her students would probably spend more time trying to get into her pants than learning.

A kindergarten teacher, then.

By the time we were done, Ironwood had already walked into the room. By the time he made himself a coffee, both of us were ready for his briefing.

Little did I know, what was to come would change my life forever.

* * *

"The bet was _what_?"

Ironwood sighed, I was pretty sure he'd seen this reaction coming. Sure, he wasn't used to having people question his orders, but this wasn't a regular order, to begin with.

"You heard me right, Jaune. I bet on you to win, she bet against it. So, by winning, you've solidified your position as the head of this task force."

I shook my head. "What kind of logic is that? Winter's already had a few years of operating experience under her belt. I know you want me to take on the mantle of leadership, but don't you think I'd learn better from her?"

Winter shook her head. "All my previous experience has been in a different field, Jaune. I've managed one of the northern outposts, and that's mostly logistics work. I'm just as inexperienced in running team ops as you."

I shook my head. "But what about your teams in Atlas? That experience has to count for something!" I was grasping at straws at this point. The last thing I wanted to do was compromise a team during a live mission. There were enough instances in history where superior fighting forces were decimated due to the ineptitude of their leaders. The battle at Fort Castle, case in point.

Sure, NZT would pretty much make sure that my final actions would be dictated by the best possible outcome, but there was something to be said about the lack of knowledge.

Combat knowledge, specifically; something that could never be gained through book-learning.

"I was seldom – if ever – the leader of a team in Atlas. I was a support worker and a back-line fighter. We had people better suited to run leadership and tactician roles." Winter commented offhandedly. "Plus, mortality rates of leaders in a school which promotes selflessness have never been very high…"

Ironwood cleared his throat. "As much as I like to maintain control over my academy, even I know that putting the daughter of a council member directly in harm's way isn't the greatest of ideas."

"So, now that Winter actually has the chance to become a team leader, she's perfectly willing to submit it to me?" I argued back. Ironwood frowned, so did Winter.

"I had originally placed the bet as a joke. But seeing how you used stratagem to win against a physically superior opponent solidified my decision. I'm not taking this back." Ironwood spoke. His tone left no quarter for disagreement, so I acquiesced.

"If it is any consolation, I'm fine with this." Winter piped up from my side. "I'm a professional, and I know I wouldn't make a good leader to begin with. Plus, I'll get my fair share of autonomy on solo missions."

That bit intrigued me. "Solo missions? I thought the minimum expected personnel for almost all missions is two or more individuals."

"Not in Atlas, Jaune. We don't have the manpower to delegate duos to all missions. Even some of the harder missions – some of which you'll be running – would generally be delegated to more people." Ironwood answered.

"That sounds… reassuring." I gulped. Winter chuckled at my discomfort.

"Don't be like that, Jaune. What we lack in man-force, we make up for via technology. You'll see soon enough." Ironwood attempted to put my worries to rest, quite unsuccessfully.

"Anyways, on to your mission. We've located an individual of interest in the frigid wastes north of the city of Mantle." Ironwood put his scroll down on the table and a hologram appeared over it. The person in the hologram looked to be around my age. He was clearly a Faunus, though. "This is Perse Mulberry, the son of Vermillion Mulberry. His father was one of the Schnee slave knights. Perse has been on the run since his father died thirteen years ago. He resurfaced a few weeks ago. Your task is to capture him."

I raised an eyebrow. "What's he done?"

Ironwood grunted, "Well, half-a-dozen counts of manslaughter, thirty indicted robberies, multiple counts of arson. Why we want him alive, though, is another reason entirely."

"And what would that reason be?" I asked, knowing full well that my chances of actually getting a straight answer were rather low.

"Simple, really. The White Fang have been trying to scout him since he made a name for himself." Ironwood answered, surprising me with how forthcoming he was being. I connected the dots in my mind, and I understood exactly why.

"You want to replace him with someone loyal to you and make him infiltrate the White Fang?"

Ironwood smiled. "I'm glad you catch on quickly, Jaune. I also hope I don't have to tell you who that 'someone' is going to be, right?"

NZT had already informed me. Perse was around my age-bracket at nineteen, we had similar builds, and Atlas was the creator of holographic masking. The answer was pretty obvious.

"Screw me, huh?"

* * *

"Are you sure that sword's enough for you?"

I took one glance at Winter. Her white dress was perfect camouflage for the frigid wastes. I'd never been there myself till today, and the frozen forest was a haunting place. Trees that somehow survived under hundreds of kilos worth of snowfall, frigid winds howling through the area. It was a scene out of a horror movie, and we were supposed to track a Faunus with better senses than us in it.

If I didn't know my own capabilities, I'd wonder if we'd been set-up to fail.

"You wield a sword too. Don't you think it's enough as a weapon?" I retorted, knowing full well the holes in my counter-argument.

"My sword is made to utilize dust. It's a multi-function weapon. While your weapon has a storied history, it's still just a sword." As expected, she dismantled my retort with much ease. I didn't even have the shield that went with my sword anymore. Forging a new weapon was a time-consuming effort, and I wasn't truly a fan of gun-based weaponry myself.

Sadly, guns were the most-used weapons in all Atlas, and custom weaponry took time to make or requisition.

"It's enough to suffice, Winter." I stated. She was about to argue but was stopped as our quarry walked into the clearing below our hiding spot. I took a good look at him. Long, slicked back white hair, topped off by canine-like ears. He wore simple garb – all the better to move around in. On his back hung a curved greatsword. The sword had seen some use, judging by the nicks and scratches on its surface. What surprised me was the quiver that hung off his belt. Maybe his weapon had a secondary bow function?

"I'm going to approach him, cover me." I whispered, abandoning my hiding spot and quickly moving down into the clearing. I saw Perse's ears twitch. He knew I was here. By the time I reached the clearing, my quarry was on the run. I signaled to Winter and ran in pursuit, channeling my aura to my legs as I broke into a sprint.

Perse wasn't any less quick. While he wasn't as fast as me in a straight line, he made up for it by using the forest to his advantage. The man knew the lay of the land like the back of his hand. I was pretty sure he could have given me the slip, but he was staying in my view. Was he leading me into a trap?

I got my answer when I saw a huge log descend towards me from between two treed, bound to each by a length of rope.

The Log caught me square in the chest. My momentum, combined with the weight and speed of the log, was enough to send me flying. My aura mitigated the hit, but I couldn't save my footing. Before I could react, I heard a hissing sound as an arrow landed near my feet.

I caught a glimpse of the red crystal that made the arrow's head before the thing exploded, knocking me flying through a tree.

My aura diminished, I could barely make out the net that draped around my body before I lost my consciousness.

The last thing I saw was Perse's gloating face.

* * *

The first thing I noticed on waking up was that I was no longer on NZT. The fact that my hands were tied behind my back came seconds.

Funny how my priorities had changed.

"Awake, are we, Huntsman?"

I looked up from my prone position, getting a sideways glance at my captor. His gloating smile was nowhere to be seen, replaced by confusion. I didn't need NZT to understand why. Perse was trying to gather why someone as young as me was sent to trail him.

Now if I could muster up the courage to respond properly.

"Yeah, though the ground's frozen. Mind helping me get upright? I'd rather have my butt freeze, not my face."

An amused smirk appeared on Perse's face. My tone quavered as I spoke, but the humor of the situation wasn't lost on him. He still helped me up, albeit rather roughly. I leaned back into the cave wall, getting comfortable.

"Didn't even deny being a huntsman, huh? Didn't know they sent first-years to pursue 'dangerous' criminals these days." He replied, squatting down in front of me. I noticed that I wasn't terrified of him, even though he could kill me with ease as I was. This wasn't how I imagined him to be, not one bit.

"Well, I didn't know that kids my age were labeled 'dangerous', what did you do, rob a store?" I asked, trying to feign ignorance of his actual crimes. It wasn't a smart move. I would have never done something this risky on NZT.

"What I've done is beside the point, though I must thank you for telling me that you aren't from Atlas." He answered. I raised an eyebrow.

"How did you infer that?" I asked. Perse just shook his head.

"Any Atlas operative wouldn't be sent to apprehend me without knowing of my 'crimes'. Though, does killing terrorists in self-defense count as a crime? Does that not make every huntsman a criminal?" He asked, and I had trouble following his line of thought.

"You killed terrorists? Why? Aren't you from the white fang?" Again, another lie. I was quite surprised that I'd managed to keep a clueless face through it all. Guess my naturally-confused facial expression was good for something after all.

Perse chuckled. "Nah, I have nothing to do with those cretins; though they have tried to recruit me before. Quite aggressively, if I may add."

My eyes narrowed, I was missing something here. "Aggressively? I thought the White Fang was made up of volunteers, why would they try to scout out someone as young as you?"

Perse was silent for a few moments, "Might be because of my parentage. The existence of the Slave Knights was one of the catalysts that fuelled the fire of the Faunus revolt. I'm the son of the only Slave Knight who escaped the culling. They believe that having me would bring in more volunteers."

I grunted. I didn't know enough about the Slave Knights to understand the meaning behind Perse's words. I had other questions. "You're obviously skilled, why not become a Huntsman? You could spit on the faces of the white fang by allying with their 'enemies'." I already knew why this was an impossibility, but I needed to know why in his own words.

"That was the original plan, you know? I escaped when my father was murdered. I lived in the wilds, learning from my father's books. The White fang tracked me down twice, each time, I survived. When I got back to civilization, imagine my surprise when I learned that I was a 'wanted criminal'. I mean, robberies? Arson? I wasn't even around for all that!"

I gulped. "What about murder? You said you killed people. Why?"

Perse sighed. "It was them or me. The white fang sent some of their best to track me down. All I had was my father's weapon and some of the skills he passed down to me. Thankfully, it was enough for self-defense."

I was silent for a moment. This was the very opposite of his criminal profile. He wasn't the ruthless killer that the file labeled him as. He was just a scared teen, one who had run from the world his whole life.

I couldn't let that stand.

"I can help you." I whispered. I knew that – had I been on NZT – I would have never made this decision, but I wasn't, and I wasn't going to allow someone to suffer like this any longer than I had to.

Perse's eyebrows shot up. "What do you mean you can help me? You just heard what I've done. There is no salvation for me."

I nodded. "I can help you. I just need to take my medication first." My voice was calm and modulated, even without NZT. It took a lot of willpower to maintain, but the struggle was aided by the fact that my quarry was a teen like me.

Perse shivered. "Your medication? This?" His shakily took out my bottle of NZT pills from his pocket. "What's it for?"

I shook my head. "Terminal illness. I have to take one of those every twelve hours or I'll die. I'm sure you don't want that on your conscience." The dialogue surprised me too. It seems that my personality off NZT had changed too, and I wasn't sure if it was for the better.

Manipulating others shouldn't be this easy.

Perse quickly popped the bottle's top and took out a pill. With shaky hands, he popped the pill into my open mouth. There was no water to trail it in, but I managed to swallow. The pill took effect almost instantly. Maybe it was because my body was becoming used to it, maybe it was because I was still on the downer from my last pill, but it didn't matter.

I instantly concentrated all my aura into my arms. The ropes binding me were thick, but not thick enough to withstand a tenfold increase in strength. I ripped through them with little effort and got up. To his benefit, Perse reacted fast. He jumped back but found his back pushed in by the tip of a sword.

Winter's sword, to be exact.

"While I initially had doubts about your plan, I must admit that it worked out fantastically." Winter commented as she disarmed Perse. The boy was shivering from fear but held a defiant look on his face. As his gaze shifted to me, it turned into one of abject betrayal.

"… Using an underage huntsman to find my lair. That's new." He spoke, his tone was flat, but his eyes gave his fear away. This man wasn't a killer, and his reactions took away any doubt I had about the authenticity of his earlier claims.

"I'm actually not a huntsman yet, I will be going for my first year at Atlas this year." I corrected him, picking up my sword from the side-wall of the cave. "And I'm going to make sure that you're afforded that same chance."

Perse's shivering lessened as I motioned for Winter to back off. The woman shot me a questioning gaze but did as I asked nonetheless. Perse almost jumped for his weapon, but my steely gaze stopped him in his tracks.

"I suspect there's some foul play when it comes to your criminal file. If you are sure that you haven't done those crimes, I'll personally inquire about your records." I claimed. Perse almost laughed.

" _You'll_ make an Inquiry into the Atlesian records? What can a kid like you do when the people who indicted me have already proven to be so inept?" He asked. I gave him a wry smile.

"Well, I have some clout with the general. Give me a day to sort out your file and if I fail, I'll set you free myself. If I do find something that proves your innocence, I simply ask you to make one promise to me."

A dry chuckle escaped Perse's throat. "And what would that promise be?"

My smile didn't drop. "Enroll in Atlas with me, be my partner. God knows I cannot be paired up with a regular first year. Someone who has as much experience as you – on the other hand – I can definitely work with."

Perse was silent for a few moments, and then he burst into laughter. "I don't even know your name, but here you are, promising me a real life, one on my own conditions. Who and what exactly are you?" It was a simple question, but I was both on NZT and in a good mood. It was the perfect time for my flair for theatrics to rear its ugly head again.

"My name is Jaune Arc, and you can think of me as the dear General's pet project."

* * *

"You have to be shitting me."

I sat in the records room with Ironwood, Winter, Perse, and two guards sent to keep an eye on him. At my behest, Perse had been allowed to accompany up without handcuffs. They did take his weapon away, though.

"Yes, this entire criminal record is fake. Someone's circumvented the records system to add to his criminal profile without submission of proof. Hell, half these robberies don't even have a physical location; same for the Arson attempts."

It had only taken three minutes for me to run into major inconsistencies between both the physical and the digital records, namely the lack of any physical records to begin with. Sure, digitalization was a boon for humanity, but digital measures could be circumvented by anyone who knew coding.

Secondly, the fact that no one had even bothered to cross-examine the data presented was worrisome. Sure, one could pass it off using the age-old excuse of people not having enough time, but the fact was simple. Someone had fucked up big time, and possibly on purpose.

That led to the final straw, the fact that the person who submitted the report was reported MIA on a mission that involved the White Fang.

"We've been had…" Ironwood grimaced. "We employed a White Fang supporter for the better part of a decade and we never even suspected him."

I shook my head. "The fact that he hoodwinked the entire system speaks of his prowess at infiltration, Ironwood. You shouldn't let it get to you. What you _should_ think of doing is getting someone from R&D to work on the criminal filing system. This shitbox really needs an upgrade."

Ironwood nodded in acceptance. "I shall get Lucas to work on it as soon as he's back from Mistral. He sends his regards to you, by the way, says he can't wait to parade you in front of his rival."

I nodded back, ignoring Lucas' ominous quotation. "So, let's discuss what this means for Perse, shall we?"

"Well, this requires an in-depth analysis. We'll be physically examining each crime he's been indicted for, but I'm pretty sure we'll come up with empty leads. Sadly, he has to stay here in Atlas for the time being."

I sighed with relief. "Hear that, Perse? You're going to be let off the hook!"

Ironwood interrupted Perse before he could respond. "Although, there's still the matter of you attempting to kidnap an Atlesian operative. It is a serious charge, but we can drop it if you help us infiltrate the White Fang."

Perse sighed. "No such thing as a free lunch, huh? Well, as much as I'd like to help you, I'm not joining the fang."

Ironwood shook his head. "We won't be sending you in. We're thinking of disguising Jaune as you and having him do the actual infiltration."

Again, Perse shook his head. "No, I don't think you get it. There are more reasons for me not joining… personal reasons."

Intrigued, I spoke. "…such as?"

Perse gulped. "For one, the Slave Knights were slaughtered by one of their own. He's a part of the White Fang, and he's the one who's requested I serve him. I don't think I'd be able to do that without making an attempt on his life."

I nodded. "Fair enough, but he doesn't know of your vendetta against him, does he?" Perse shook his head. "So, if I joined under him and got him arrested, you'd be killing two birds with one stone."

Perse shook his head with more force. "Yeah, and I would like nothing more than to see that man suffer, but there's another problem. My crazy ex is in the White Fang too!"

I shrugged. "So, what's the issue? I'm sneaky, I'm sure I could avoid her."

"See, Jaune. That's the problem. If you're a part of the White Fang, it is literally impossible for you to avoid her."

The ominous tone of his words wasn't lost on anyone in the room. Finally, It was Winter who asked the million-dollar question.

"Who exactly was your girlfriend?" She asked, and Perse _whimpered_.

"My girlfriend… was Sienna Khan." He answered, and the room fell silent. When we did respond, all of our responses were completely different.

"Was she fun in the sack?" Ironwood, completely out-of-character.

"Isn't that illegal?" Winter, genuine concern for both the law and her new partner, AKA me.

"Older girls, huh, Perse? Didn't peg you for that type." Me, because it was genuinely surprising, considering his self-imposed exile.

"On second thought, you should definitely infiltrate the White Fang. I'm sure they'll give up midway through their operations once they realize just how insufferable you guys are."

* * *

 **And that's that!**

 **-CruelRuin**


	4. Chapter 4 - Snowblind

**Six months, huh? That's how long it took for me to get the free time to update both my stories once each.**

 **Work's sad. I never get the time to write solo. I do write Two-Step Goodbye with SneakyDevil on my weekdays, and that's because I don't have to write all that much.**

 **I did get a free day yesterday, which allowed me to finally put an end to this chapter. It was supposed to be around 2k-3k words longer than this is, and you can tell that the final two portions are a bit rushed, but I realized that it was better to post this now than to wait for another 'magical' free day to appear when I can write more.**

 **So, here it is.**

* * *

 **Beyond the Bounds**

 **Chapter 4 - Snowblind**

* * *

Somewhere between the third and fifth time I evaded Perse's arrows, I wondered exactly when this had become so…easy.

A mere month ago, hell, even a few days ago, the combination of Winter and Perse would have dropped me faster than a brick. The first time the two had gone up against me, they'd proceeded to do exactly that. NZT was only so good, after all.

The second time was nowhere as hard, though. The third time was even easier. By the fourth try, the tables had turned enough that I was forced to play at a disadvantage. I left Crocea Mors behind as I took them on. Still, they were fighting an uphill battle.

This was the power of NZT. I could never lose to the same opponent twice. Hell, if my opponent spent time testing me, every second spent trying me out was a percentage decreased from their probability of winning.

A little while ago, I would have still been at a disadvantage. I used to be physically inferior to most huntsmen, never having trained much or eaten well. Atlas was boon on both ends. The training division had a field day with me, drafting up multiple diets and exercise regimens. I was their guinea pig and NZT just made me more efficient.

It did work out, so I can't complain much.

"Can't you stand still?" Perse spoke as he shot another arrow at me. I already knew that he'd get angry and move into close range if I dodged enough of his shots. All things considered, he'd held out a little longer than usual. He didn't have the training of a huntsman, didn't have the rigid discipline promoted by the Atlesian military. That made him easy to counter.

Dealing with Winter - on the other hand - was a balancing act.

She rushed in with her sword. In that one instant, my mind went through every possible trajectory her weapon could take. It then broke them all down by likeliness, and then gave them context based on her approach. This was the second part of NZT, hyperreflexia and mental dissociation. The ability to think and act simultaneously without any latency put me heads above any combatant I'd likely face.

I grinned as I ducked under her slash. Another one of Perse's arrows whistled past as my body subconsciously evaded it. I kept dodging with ease. Before I knew it, Perse switched his bow-sword back into its sword configuration and joined the melee.

Just as I'd predicted.

I already knew that Winter and Perse had no synergy as a team. Sure, they wouldn't willingly attack each other, but they could almost never follow up any opening made by the other. With Perse as an archer, that was less of an issue because he'd spend his time looking for openings. Once he joined the melee, things became easier for me.

They approached me from opposite ends. A pincer attack, but not on purpose. Perse lacked the formal training of a huntsman, so he attacked me full-frontal. Winter was a fighter who lacked Perse's natural strength and size but made up for it with training, speed and skill. Hence, it made sense she'd attack from behind.

Of all the outcomes I'd predicted, this one was the most favorable.

My body went on autopilot as my right leg shot out, breaking Perse's balance. With the same foot, I pushed, jumping back into Winter. She was expecting me to get into her personal space, and I saw the glyph activate under her feet. There was a thing to be said for trained warriors. They rarely had any openings, but their actions were always decided well in advance. That made them predictable.

To NZT, anything that could be predicted could be countered.

Instead of body-slamming into Winter, I planted down my back foot and slid, allowing the glyph-accelerated Winter to brush past me as I turned, driving my elbow into her back. Unable to stop and unable to turn, Winter barreled into Perse at breakneck speed, sending the two tumbling.

An effective end to the fight.

"I feel like you're not even trying at this point, guys. At least _pretend_ like you plan to give me a fight!" I taunted, hoping they'd want to go another round. I rarely got time off exercise, reading and eating. These spars were the only highlights to my generally boring days.

"I think we should just call Ironwood. He'd be willing to take you down a peg or two… again." Perse spoke as he got up. I myself helped Winter get up, the gentleman that I was. The scathing glare she shot me was just icing on my cake.

"I asked him if he wanted to fight, but he said he was busy. He's still trying to set our infiltration plan into motion." I frowned. I'd fought Ironwood thrice and I was no closer to defeating him than I was when we first fought. This went against the very basis of NZT. It took me two fights against him to realize why I couldn't beat him… even if he was essentially trained like Winter.

He had experience.

It was NZT's great enemy. The fact that I could replicate a move after seeing it once didn't mean I could use it to the same effect that someone with years of practice with it could. Plus, Experience equalled versatility. Ironwood had never used the same method of combat against me twice. I knew that he would run out of techniques and methods eventually, but he made something known to me.

It was only the first fight that ever mattered.

This was the reason I was training daily with Perse and Winter. Each day I'd try something new. Something I'd read the last day, something from a training video I'd watched. The difference between knowing how to use something perfectly and actually using it in live combat was astronomical.

I was bridging that gap though, slowly but surely.

"Well, he's the general. It isn't like he's got time to spar daily with some two-bit chump like you." Perse answered with a groan as he sheathed his weapon.

"As a matter of fact, I'd gladly spar with Jaune if given the time."

I turned around to see Ironwood walk into the room. I gave him a little wave as he walked over. "You're back early. Good news?" I asked. His nod was all the confirmation I needed.

"Lay it on us, boss. How're we smuggling me into the Fang?" I asked.

Ironwood sighed. "Jaune, could you at least _try_ to be less crude?"

I shrugged. "I could try and be more like those bootlickers you call your officers. Something tells me that you'd like that even less."

Ironwood was silent for a second. "I hate it when you're right."

I shrugged again. "Blame the NZT."

Choosing not to react to that, Ironwood moved past us, beckoning us to follow. He led us out of the training room and into an auxiliary room with a table in it. Once we were there, he fiddled a bit with his prosthetic arm before the table lit up.

"Computer tables. Why am I not surprised that we have these?" Perse voiced my thoughts. Again, Ironwood gave him no attention as he continued to fiddle with his prosthetic. Soon, a few images appeared on the screen. The images cycled until there were only three left on the screen.

"So, these are our persons of interest, huh?" I asked, committing their faces - or masks - to memory. Three people, two men and a bombshell of a woman. One of them men was younger than the other, probably around my own age. He had a mask, spiky red hair, and two horn-like black streaks.

The woman was a different kind of beauty. Short hair, dark skin and a Vacuan _bindi_ on her forehead. The most alarming was the third person. A grizzled, old man. just by looking at his face I could tell that he had Ironwood beat by at least a few decades. His face was scarred, yet not wrinkled. What truly stood out about him was his radiant smile.

"Who are these people?" I asked. Instead of answering me, Ironwood gazed intently at Perse. Once my gaze shifted, I recognized signs of remembrance on his face. He then realized that all three people in the room were now awaiting answers.

"Oh? Well. The girl's Sienna. She looks… different." He answered, pointing at the woman. His gaze then shifted to the guy with the mask. "That's Adam Taurus. he was something of an upstart back when I left. Guy had both ambition and smarts, shame he was an extremist."

"What about the third guy?" I asked, still unable to shake his out-of-place smile from my mind. Someone who looked so dangerous had no right to smile like that.

"That would be Argus." He answered. I waited for him to complete the name, but what I got instead was an explanation.

"He's the last of the Schnee slave knights. He has no last name." It was Ironwood who supplied the information, no emotion visible on his face. "He's an Atlesian legend."

I shook my head. I knew of the Slave knights, I knew that Perse was the son of one, the only one who survived the infamous _culling_.

"Is that your dad?" I asked, making Perse blink. He then shook his head.

"No. Argus isn't my father. He was never a part of the culling, having escaped to Menagerie with the original founder of the White Fang." He sighed. "Argus was the one who raised me once father died."

I gulped. "How strong is he?"

Perse shrugged. "I never found out. All I can tell you is that the legends surrounding him are all true."

I raised an eyebrow. "Legends?"

"He was the one who killed Nicholas Schnee." It was Winter who spoke up this time, a blank look on her face. "He fought the rest of the Slave Knights, even killed three of them. He's the reason the culling took place."

I tried to change the topic a bit, considering I really didn't want to know more about the guy who murdered Winter's grandfather. "What was the culling, exactly?"

Ironwood cleared his throat in an attempt to answer, but Perse beat him to the punch. "In the middle of the Faunus rights revolution, Nicholas Schnee was murdered. Due to his murderer being one of his own faithful Slave Knights, the Atlesian Army decided that the rest of them would either join the army against their own kind or go to jail." he sighed. "They decided to do neither and fight."

"It was the first symbol of Faunus Militarisation. Many credit them with creating the concept of the first White Fang." Ironwood took over, pulling up a text file on the table. "Of course, my predecessor decided that the best way to deal with the Slave Knights was to get them killed."

"So, they dispatched Inhert Crimson to clean them up." Winter finished.

"They didn't go down without a fight. Each Slave Knight was worth a platoon of huntsmen." Ironwood spoke, awe apparent in his tone. "The fight between them and the Crimson Wake was enough to level a full block of Mantle. In the end, it wasn't enough."

"He killed them all, didn't he?" I asked no one in particular. The silence was my answer.

"My father was never in the fight. He deserted his comrades and left for Vacuo, where he met a woman and had me. Even took her last name to throw off suspicion." Perse spoke.

"Inhert couldn't get to Argus himself because he escaped to Menagerie. It was the culling that gave a voice to the Faunus, taught them that they could fight back. The White Fang then rose out of it." Ironwood finished, forwarding the file on the table to my scroll. I'd read it later.

Currently, we had bigger fish to fry.

"So, I'm supposed to keep an eye on these three once I do get in, right?" I asked, realizing the fatal flaw in all of this. "But how am I going to fool Argo into believing that I'm actually Perse?"

Ironwood took out a device that looked like a disc from his coat pocket. "Put this to your chest," he spoke. I did as he asked, surprised that the disk stuck to my jacket. Ironwood then stepped closer and hit the centre of the disc. A few lights appeared on it and I felt it hum to life.

A matrix of light shot out from the disc, engulfing my body, trying to measure it. Cobwebs of light calibrated to my body-structures, dancing over my clothes. These cobwebs then started to coalesce over me, and then, everything changed.

"Oh, we have holograms too. Just brilliant." Perse quipped, gazing at me with wonder. Winter too was stunned. I took out my scroll and activated the forward-facing camera.

A carbon-copy of Perse stared back at me from my scroll.

"It's a bit shorter than the genuine article." I spoke, realizing that whatever the device had done, it hadn't changed my height. I tapped my hand, hitting something hard right above my aura.

"Hard light, Perse. Holograms are a thing of the past." Ironwood answered. "It's virtually indistinguishable from an aura shield. Plus, the emitter on your chest also has a scent-ester in it. You don't just look like Perse, you smell like him too."

"This has got to be expensive as all shit." I spoke, hitting the button on the disk and watching the hard light construct fade around my body.

"It's prototype tech. We generally hire and train Faunus spies to infiltrate the Fang. Considering you aren't a Faunus and are taking over someone else's identity, our only other option was to give you crocheted ears and a fursuit." Ironwood clarified.

"Well then. This explains how I'm going to keep my identity secret once I'm in. Still doesn't explain how I'm going to get in."

Ironwood smiled. "Well, we have a plan that our spies in the Fang are already putting into motion." He smiled. "I'll explain as we go."

"Go where?" I asked as Ironwood switched off the table and started walking off.

Ironwood turned around a gave me a shit-eating grin that felt very unnatural on his face.

"To prison, of course! Now get in the convoy. I'll join you there."

* * *

"For the record, I still think this idea is stupid."

I was speaking to no one in particular, considering the only companions I had on this trip were ten Atlesian Knight 130s. They were programmed with the mission parameters in mind, specially made for this mission too. It did little to take my mind off the fact that my only companions on this mission were robots.

I mentally cursed Ironwood again for roping me into this. Should have told him how stupid this sounded from the get-go.

We had a week to prepare for this, me and Perse. It was a week spent learning how he fought and acted. I learnt how to _become_ him.

… not that it was very hard. All I had to do was shoot a bow and be very sarcastic and standoffish.

Here I was, waiting for a sign that the White Fang were going to play along. I didn't have to wait long. Explosions rang out near the convoy, sending the truck I was in flipping through the air. I braced for impact, ready for this.

As ready as I could be, considering the truck I was in didn't stop rolling for a good ten seconds. The moment it did, the two Atlesian Knights that were still active after taking so much damage sprang into action. They shot at the back door of the truck, blowing it open with high-caliber fire. Instantly, two shots rang out from outside and the bots fell.

I took advantage of this situation to crawl out of the truck. Two hands reached out to help pull me out. I gladly took them. As I finally crawled out of the truck, I came face-to-face with my rescuers.

Adam Taurus and a short cat-faunus with black hair.

"Perse Mulberry, I presume?" The girl spoke up, offering me a carbon-copy of Perse's weapon. I nodded and took the weapon.

"I hope stories about you aren't exaggerated, we'll need all the help we can get to fight our way out of here." She spoke. I took a look around. The other trucks were now unloading their payload of Atlesian Knights. The closest one was already readying its rifle.

I responded to the faunus' query by dashing at it and cutting it into two. The force behind the blow was enough to cut through the truck behind the robot, destroying the other robots making their way out of it.

"Well, that answers it." The girl spoke, watching in awe. Adam wore a half-mask, but the curve of his lips was enough to give away the fact that he was equally impressed.

"If I wasn't worth rescuing, you wouldn't be here," I spoke, just as Perse would.

The girl gave me a smile and a nod. "Well then, let's get out of here."

Both she and Adam ran past me, cutting their way through the robots. I followed right behind them. We cleared the road and disappeared into the surrounding snow-covered forests, too fast for the robots to give chase. After ten minutes of running, we came to rest in a clearing a few kilometres away from the convoy. I let my two ' saviours' take a breather. I was a bit surprised by how mediocre they were. The intel file on Adam Taurus listed him as extremely dangerous, yet here he was, panting after a small skirmish and a brisk run.

Then again, I could count the number of people I knew who could do that on my fingers. It was a testament to the effectiveness of my Atlesian trainers that I was at this level of physical conditioning.

"It's rare… for someone to be stronger than they're painted out to be." Adam breathed out, clutching his weapon close. Unlike the cat faunus, he was a lot more paranoid.

"Try running from the law for the better part of a decade _alone_ ," I responded, making a show of switching my weapon into its bow configuration and fiddling with the string. Even the calibrations on the weapon were almost exactly like Perse prefered.

Adam huffed. "Master Argus procured that weapon. Said you'd like it. He also told us you were pretty good. Not _this_ good, though."

I was silent for a good while. Argus had trained Perse from the ground-up. Perse himself admitted that Argus was a good teacher. It would make sense for him to be able to predict Perse's growth through second-hand knowledge of his escapades.

Thankfully, there was a logical hole in that theory.

"Argus hasn't met me in seven years, and no one but me knows what all I've faced over that time." it was a simple statement, yet it made sense. Not every enemy Perse faced was someone of note, not every fight he'd been in made it to the public.

"Adam, stop doubting the man. He's good, and that's good for us." The cat faunus breathed out and Adam stiffened. She noticed it and rolled her eyes. "We know his name, and we know that he's stronger than us. Might as well tell him who we are too."

Adam was silent for a moment before he saw the logic in the girl's words. He stood up and offered me a hand to shake. "I'm Adam Taurus, Master Argus' right hand," he spoke as I shook his hand. "This here is Blake Belladonna."

My eyes widened. A Belladonna? Could she be related to the original founder of the White Fang? The story of Ghira Belladonna was well-known, about how he disagreed with the extremist policies of Sienna Khan. About how him leaving the Fang was when they turned from activists into terrorists. Why would someone related to him still be part of this farce of an organisation?

"Nice to meet you two. Now, can we get moving? I'd like to spend as little time in the snow as I possibly can."

My two accomplices nodded and got ready to leave. Before I could follow them, Blake turned around and gave me a small smile.

"Welcome to the White Fang." she spoke as she started to jog off behind Adam. As I saw her leave, I retrieved a small tracking device that Ironwood had given me and stuck it to the inside of my boots. A small light blinked on it thrice, signalling that it was now active.

Pretty sure that somewhere out there Ironwood just breathed a sigh of relief.

* * *

"This is it?" I asked, genuinely surprised by the size of the Fang's base in Atlas. "One floor, three rooms. How many people use this?"

Adam sighed. "Do you know how hard it is for us to maintain a presence in Atlas?" he countered, not answering my question. I didn't give him an answer, just stared at him for a while. Finally, he cracked.

"It's just you, me and Blake for the most part. Argus and Sienna are currently in there. They wanted to be here for your arrival."

I rose an eyebrow, "Someone as important as Sienna's here? Thought she'd still be in Mistral. I'm not as important as her safety is."

Adam shrugged. "That's what I told her. She seems to think otherwise."

My mind rushed through various scenarios as I followed the two of them in. Why would Sienna be here? Could they possibly know I was a plant? Was there a leak of information? It couldn't be. the only people who knew I was here were the four of us and the R&D team that made the hard-light concealment device for me.

What were the chances of one of us defecting?

"It's good to see you again, Perse."

My mind was brought back to the present when I heard a mature woman speak. I looked to the side and saw Sienna Khan sitting on a couch, right next to Argus. The look on her face was one of both relief and fondness. Argus, meanwhile, had that trademark smile of his.

"Likewise, Sienna, Argus. Glad to see you both safe and sound." I responded. Argus got off his chair and walked over to me. He gave me a good look-see. I took the time to mentally memorize everything about him.

"A little shorter than I was led to believe, but you've filled out, kid." Argus spoke in a booming voice, patting me on my shoulder. I allowed a smile to form on my face.

"Still taller than you, old man. Surprised you're still kicking, thought Atlas woulda done your sorry ass in by now." I commented, remembering that Argus and Perse were supposed to work this way.

Argus smile dropped, giving me the impression that it _didn't_ work this way.

Before I could backtrack, the smile returned full-force. "Your tongue's still sharp as ever, I see." He spoke, gesturing to a seat. I noticed as Blake and Adam didn't move. I did, though.

"As for your question, they've pretty much stopped trying." He sighed, settling down on the sofa. "Kill a few specialists and they start putting 'flee on sight' in your criminal records."

I gave him a forced smile, "Shoulda took that advice when I decided to go off on my own. Too bad I can't tolerate much killing."

Argus chuckled. "Neither can I, but when it's either you or them, you'd rather have them being the ones to die."

"Fair point." I spoke. "So, why the welcoming party? Would have been safer to fly me out to Mistral, wouldn't it?"

"And give up the chance to meet you again, away from business? I think not." Sienna spoke with a playful smirk on her face. I had to admit, her photos did not do her justice. In person, she was a lot more dangerous... and a lot more beautiful. There was an aura of dominance around her, even more than one would expect from a tiger faunus.

It was intimidating, I had to tread carefully.

"I hardly warrant the attention." I commented, "Plus, your subordinates here seem to be capable enough, if not the strongest I've seen." I spoke, noticing as Adam stiffened behind me. Blake didn't take it quite as bad, but her eyes narrowed just a bit.

"Well, they're going to be your subordinates now." Sienna spoke, shocking almost everyone in the room other than Argus. "The Fang is small in Atlas, and Blake and Adam are some of our finest. You've survived these lands alone for the better part of a decade. Your experience is invaluable."

"Oh, so these guys aren't locals, then?" I asked, and Sienna shook her head. I gave it a little thought. Both Adam and Blake had similar complexions, too pale to fit any of the other nations. If they weren't from Atlas, only one other place made sense.

"Menagerie, huh? Damn, I feel bad for you. That place has started to prosper these days. What do they say about good leaders making better times? Yeah, basically that." I stated. Blake's wince was reason enough for me to connect her to Ghira Belladonna. There was history here. The rebellious daughter, maybe? I'd have to confirm.

"Perceptive as always, aren't you?" Argus spoke up from his seat. "Plus, Adam is strong enough, he's my protege."

I gave Argus a glare. "Then you must be going soft on him."

Argus chuckled. "I've trained him more than I trained you. Plus, he's a lot more grateful for it."

"Yet, he cannot defeat me." I claimed. A bold claim, because what I'd seen of Adam's fighting style and prowess at least equalled that of Perse.

I wasn't Perse, and I wasn't at the same level.

"So assured in your abilities, are you? Argus asked, and I nodded. "Then what would you say to a little wager?"

"A wager before I've ever joined your merry bunch?" I asked. "What tells you that I've changed my mind about joining?"

Sienna was the one who spoke this time. "Perse. We've used considerable resources to extricate you from imprisonment. You're a known figure amongst the Fang, and can become the same for the general populace."

"So, you saved me just so that you can hold that over my head, didn't you?" I asked. I saw a flicker of hurt in Sienna's eyes and I wondered whether I'd pushed too far, but was reminded of Perse's history with her.

"While I won't deny that having you would be a great asset to the fang, we saved you because we didn't want you to go to prison for our… insistence." She spoke, with a healthy amount of guilt in her voice.

"So you admit to having sent people to… apprehend me?" I asked. After a second of silence, she nodded.

"At least you're honest. In that case, if I take you 'saving me' from prison as an olive branch, that just makes us even." I spoke, sinking lower into my couch. "So, I reiterate. Why do you think I'd want to join you _now_ of all times?"

There was silence.

"Because you'd have a home."

I turned around to face the speaker, Blake. She was still standing next to Adam with a frown on her face. I felt hesitation in her features, but why? I couldn't tell.

"You've lived like a vagabond for almost your entire life. While the Fang isn't the most stable of families, it's something. Something is always better than nothing." She finished, and Sienna took over.

"Stay with us, so you'll be with people who actually care for you." She finished. Argus stayed silent.

I was silent, letting them stew in the suspense I had created. I slowly turned towards Argus. "So, tell me about this wager you have in mind."

"Well, I was about to wager that Adam could take you in a fight, but that seems to no longer be an option now." He spoke, completely nonchalant.

I smiled. "Okay, how about this? I'm going to fight your boy." I spoke, getting off my sofa and getting in Adam's face. It was awkward, considering he was a few inches taller than me and wearing a mask. It was getting the job done, though. Adam probably wasn't used to people squaring up against him, and it showed.

"If he is able to put up a good fight, I'll join the Fang." I then turned around to give Argus a smirk. "If he's able to beat me by some miracle, I'll let him order me around."

"So, when do you want to do this?" Sienna asked, a victorious smirk on her face. Of course, doing it as fast as possible would be for the best. Adam hadn't yet reported to them about the mission and they did not yet know of the discrepancy between their predictions and my actual strength.

"Now would be fine. I'm hoping you have some place where the two of us can let loose?" I asked. Argus looked at Sienna, who gave him a nod. Argus got off his seat and walked over to the corner of the room. He walked over to a lamp and twisted the lampshade. The lamp and the table swivelled forwards, revealing a set of stairs leading down.

"I didn't want to show you our real Atlesian base till you were officially a part of our group, but I guess that isn't an option anymore." Sienna spoke as she got off her chair and beckoned me to follow. As I followed her, Blake and Adam took up the rear.

Two flights of stairs later, we were greeted by a second door. Reinforced Iron, thicker than my arm by the looks of it. It was already open by the time we caught up with Argus, and I got a look into the base.

… and was disappointed again.

It wasn't a cave system or anything spectacular. There were six dimly-lit rooms that I could see and a small training area. It was a testament to how small the Fang was forced to be in order to survive in Atlas.

"Welcome to our Atlesian base. Now, get ready. You fight in five minutes." Sienna spoke, and I walked off to what I assumed was a washroom.

The last thing I heard from Adam was something along the lines of "Don't I get any say in all of this?"

Pretty sure I could guess how Sienna would react to that.

* * *

 **Blake POV**

* * *

"Don't I get any say in all of this?"

I was equally confused. I knew that Perse Mulberry was something of an urban legend, but the way Sienna was acting so desperate to have him onboard forced me to re-evaluate his worth to us.

"No, you do not. Also, don't even think of holding back." She spoke. The level of intensity her tone carried set me on edge. Sienna was known for being calm and composed. This was the very opposite of that.

"I don't think Adam can beat him." I piped up from behind them. Sienna gave me a look like I was stupid. "You told us he'd be handy with his weapons, that he'd have a decent amount of combat experience. You were underestimating him."

Sienna gave me a blank stare. "Me and him both trained under Argus. He never beat me once in ten years of training."

"That might have something to do with the fact that you're half a decade elder to him." I spoke with a deadpan expression. Didn't expect Sienna to blush at that.

"... he said he was okay with the age gap." Okay, I was officially done at this point. It suddenly made more sense why Sienna was acting this way. They had romantic history, these two. It was a well-known fact that Perse didn't approve of the White fang's more radicalized form of resistance, maybe that's why he originally left?

I looked at Adam, who was still deep in thought, and I couldn't help but draw a personal parallel here. Another relationship strained by a difference of opinion… a different value of human life.

It also made sense that she'd try anything to get him back. I could see Adam trying to do the same when I finally decided to leave…

… when I finally gathered the courage to defect.

"Nonetheless. He single-handedly destroyed an entire caravan of Atlesian Knights." I spoke, watching as Sienna became more and more worried. "I'm pretty sure that if he had his weapon, he could have broken out of that caravan alone."

"That's… worrisome." Sienna spoke. "He did spend many years fending for himself, but he had no teachers. Adam's been trained by Argus for the last decade. I'm pretty sure he can hold his own. Plus, Perse's always been something of a pacifist. I cannot see him going to the same lengths as Adam would to win a fight."

"It's your funeral, Sienna. Good luck, Adam." I spoke as I retreated to the storeroom, hoping to find a chair for myself. As I did so, I bumped into Perse, who was coming out of said room.

"You ready for the fight?" I asked.

His mischievous smile was all the confirmation I needed that he was.

Maybe if he stayed with the White Fang, I'd get to know him better. He didn't seem insufferable, and he looked like someone with a story to tell.

Plus, I'd get the perspective of someone who lived life as an ex-white fang. That was something I needed to know.

...in case I needed to follow in his footsteps.

* * *

 **Jaune POV**

* * *

I was not sure how this would go.

Sure, I'd seen what Adam could do. I knew the limits of his stamina, the strength behind his swings. I knew that he was… mediocre, and that was what confused me so much.

Where did his confidence come from?

Could he have a semblance powerful enough to make up for his lack of physical ability? Was he a strategic genius? Was he just plain arrogant?

I had to throw the third inference out immediately. Argus and Sienna vouched for him, so his skill and value were definitely there. It couldn't be pure arrogance. As for him being a strategic mastermind, that too seemed unlikely. He was a head-on fighter by what I saw during my 'jailbreak'. There were ten better ways to get me out of that convoy, and he'd chosen the one which was the simplest and most dangerous.

So, not a genius, and not an arrogant prick for the most part. That left only one option. He had a powerful combat-oriented semblance.

I needed to find out what it was.

"The rules are simple, first one to be knocked out or lose a limb will be declared the loser," Sienna stated. I raised an eyebrow in question. "White Fang rules, Perse. This is how we solve disputes that escalate past logic."

I shrugged. "Makes sense you'd go for the most violent option."

Sienna chuckled. "You know me too well."

On the other side of the training field, Argus was talking to Adam. I couldn't see their mouths move, else I would have read their lips. As such, I was going in blind, while Perse's semblance and skills were known to Argus to some extent. The odds were stacked against Perse.

Too bad for them, I wasn't Perse.

"Ready to start, Adam? Or do you want Argus to fight your fights too?" I taunted. He stopped conversing with Argus and gave me what I assumed was a glare underneath his mask.

"I'm ready to go. Sienna?" He stated. on the side, Sienna started to count down.

"On the count of three. One." She spoke, and I relaxed. On the other side, Adam tightened his grip on his sword.

"Two"

We both lowered our centres of gravity. I grabbed an arrow from the quiver I'd just procured from the base's storeroom. There were no dust-tipped arrows, but that was alright with me.

"Three!"

Both me and Adam shot forward. I was much faster than him, so we met closer to his corner than mine. He shot forward with his sword, expecting to either intercept a blow or capitalize on my swing. He got neither as I flipped over him sideways, turning as I went. I knocked arrows into the bow and fired three times before I landed.

To my surprise, he turned around on his heel and blocked all three blows with his red sword. I noticed a faint exchange of energy when each arrow hit his sword. Was this his semblance? What was it?

I landed and tried to create distance between the two of us. He wasn't having it as I was forced to switch back to my weapon's sword form to defend against his blows. His fighting style was impeccable, and his slashes were faster than mine. It probably had something to do with that rifle-scabbard he carried and used.

It was then that I realized why Sienna and Argus had such faith in him. He was a fighter of skill, a warrior meant to down other humans, not Grimm. If he had the same speed and strength as me, I would lose, even with NZT.

As for now, it would be nothing more than a minor hindrance.

"Holding back, were you?" I asked as I parried his slash, dancing around his blade and riposting with my own. He was still able to block, but I was pushing him back. I dodged his next slash and kicked him to make space. My hands were already in motion, drawing another arrow in my now-transformed weapon. Before he could close the distance, I'd shot four times. Two shots landed true, hitting his body. I felt his Aura drop.

I also felt another energy rise every time he successfully blocked one of my blows. It was beginning to worry me at this point, but I had no option other than to push on.

So I did.

I dodged a bullet shot out of his sheath as I got into his range. I delivered a hit to his chest with my blade and turned with the blow, planting my foot on his sternum. His Aura was about to finish, and he was tiring. If he was going to do something, now would be a perfect time.

He did not disappoint.

He didn't try and backpedal, didn't try to block my next attack. Instead, he returned his sword to his sheath, and his hair began to glow red. I was right on top of him, and if I could bring my sword up in time, I could intercept whatever was coming.

If I wasn't on NZT, that's what I would have done.

My mind calculated the amount of time it would take him to draw his blade down to the very millisecond, them compared it to the amount of time it would take me to launch my attack. The computation took less than an instant, and the answer was a simple one.

So, I dropped my sword and stepped sideways.

I saw his surprise as he saw my weapon drop, but his body was already set into motion. He drew his sword and a fiery attack shot out, a slash that cut a furrough in the ground where I was standing mere seconds ago.

It hit nothing.

"That was close," I commented as I shifted all my aura into my right arm. "Could have caused serious damage had I not distracted you by dropping my weapon."

Adam panted, pretty much understanding that he was done for. "That was… the general idea."

"You'll forgive me then for what I have to do." I answered as I drew back my arm, knowing that he was in no shape or condition to dodge.

"Just get it over with." He replied.

"Smart choice." I replied as I dug my aura-reinforced fist into his face with a devastating haymaker. The force behind the fist was enough to knock him into the wall behind him, leaving cracks where he hit. His body then hit the floor, and he was silent.

I picked up my weapon and walked over to Sienna, who was still unable to talk. "I like his guts, even though I disapprove of him trying to kill a potential ally. The White fang will have my support, albeit on a few conditions that we can discuss later."

"D-discuss later?" She breathed out, and I nodded.

"I haven't seen a real bed since I was incarcerated. I'm going to get some sleep. You got anything to eat up here?" I asked, looking at Blake, who seemed to have regained her wits.

"I can fix you up a meal. Come along." she spoke as she beckoned me to follow her back upstairs. I took that as a chance to skedaddle.

"Quite surprised you didn't lay down the law." Blake asked as we trudged our way up the staircase. "You're giving Sienna time to formulate counter-arguments to keep you here. You sure you're okay with that?"

"I shook my head. No, I'm not, but it was a necessary sacrifice." I answered.

"A necessary sacrifice?" Blake repeated, confused.

"Blake, if I'd stayed in front of her, she would have jumped my bones right there, in front of all of you." I calmly responded.

Blake raised an eyebrow in question. "How do you know that?"

I sighed. "Her face when I took down Adam. There was pure ecstacy all over it. I know that look, I know that look far too well." She was still not completely convinced. "Plus, we've had history, both in bed and outside."

Blake decided it was wise to not ask anything more, for the sake of her sanity. Safe to say, the perfect image of Sienna Khan that she'd conjured up in her mind was now irrevocably tarnished. I was sure of it.

"You've been here for less than a few hours and things are already getting interesting." She retorted, a confused smile on her face.

I returned her smile with my own. "Oh, dear Blake. This is just the beginning."

"I Stick around and things will only get worse."

* * *

"I'm quite surprised you were able to come out unattended."

Winter sat on the table opposite me, sipping a coffee. She was in casual clothes, still preferring a boatload of white and blue. I couldn't help but admire just how amazing she looked.

"Well, they seem to believe I'm loyal enough," I replied, choosing not to voice my admiration. "Plus, I answer directly to Argus, with Adam and Blake answering to me."

"They know you're a wanted man. Why would they allow you to waltz freely through Atlas?" She questioned, putting her cup down.

"Argus believes in the philosophy that the closer you are to the enemy, the safer you are. I mean, their base of operations here is literally in the heart of the city." I answered.

A grimace crossed Winter's face. "They've been right under our nose all this while, with a base mere miles away from our own headquarters. I can't believe we needed to carry out a plan so elaborate just to locate a base."

"A worthless base, may I point out," I stated. "Other than me, Argus, and the two mooks, I've seen like four members of the White fang tops."

She sighed. "Plus, we cannot attack them. We don't have the manpower to catch someone like Argus on-hand. If we bring back some Huntsmen to the city, we could probably do it…"

"They have moles in the HQ. If any mobilisation happens, they can just ditch the burner base." I completed her sentence for her. "Adam likes to brag about how well-informed the fang is."

Winter grimaced again. "The only way we can get to them is if we catch them on a mission."

"Which is where I come in," I spoke. "They're putting me on a mission tonight, under Argo's supervision what more. I wouldn't recommend attacking this one, though."

Winter raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

I sighed. "I'm gonna be honest here, Winter. They don't exactly trust me. They're always on their guard around me. I need to gain that trust, and I think the mission tonight will help me further that agenda."

Winter rose an eyebrow. "How so?"

"They need to see that I'll do what needs to be done, even if it means crime." I replied.

"What if you have to kill an innocent?"

She let her words hang, and I let the silence take over. I had the same dilemma, and NZT was not providing any answers.

"...we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." I finally answered.

Again, silence.

"... I was against all this, you know?" Winter spoke up, her coffee completely forgotten. "There's too much risk involved."

"The reward is just as big." I retorted.

"Still, you of all people shouldn't be doing this. You aren't even a student of the academy yet." She shook her head. "The Grown-ups should be handling this."

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Almost sounds like you're worried about me."

Winter gave me a withering glare. "Of course I am! You're the only friend I have in here."

I gave her a small smile. "I'll be fine, Winter. I pull this off and the Fang's influence in Atlas will be reduced to nothing." The irony of my words wasn't lost on me. I was consoling someone who was - by all accounts - a fully-certified huntswoman.

"Just make sure you don't mess up. It would be bad for my rep." She spoke, snapping back to her usual obtuse self.

"Will do. Now, do you want to know about the people I'm working with?" I asked.

"Isn't that what I'm here for?" Winter replied.

I made a show of clutching my chest over my heart. "There it is! The snow queen returns _just_ as I thought we were having a moment." The glare she gave me was enough to tell me to move back to the point.

"Alright so. I've only really interacted with three people of interest, bar Sienna, who's back in Mistral." I spoke, leaning back in my chair. "There's Adam. Typical mook, except skilled and bloodthirsty. Tried to kill me on my first day with the Fang. Then there's Argus. I don't know enough about him yet. He seems rather playful for someone with so much blood on his hands."

"Then, there's Blake. She's probably the daughter of Ghira Belladonna."

Winter raised an eyebrow. "We know she's still a part of the Fang. Didn't expect her to be in Atlas though."

I nodded. "She seems to be something of a shadow operative. A scout, if you will. What do we have on her?"

Winter took out her scroll and typed in a few words. "Let's see. Blake Belladonna. Three counts of arson, no casualties."

I nodded. "That about fits the bill. She seems to be a moderate stuck between extremists. She's got a level head… comparatively."

"She also looks very pretty." Winter commented, probably looking at images of her.

I raised an eyebrow. "Really, Winter? I spent a month in close proximity to an A-list beauty like you. You know well enough that I can separate work and play." I spoke. "Plus, she seems to have had history with Adam."

"Would explain why she stayed with the Fang." Winter spoke, completely brushing away my offhand compliment. I nodded.

"She's the one I've had the most contact with. I get the feeling that she wants something from me." I spoke. My mind was still trying to rationalize what that was. It wasn't hero-worship. It wasn't sexual, so what could it be?

"Maybe so. Still, you're on a timer here. Two missions with them. That's all you get." She finished.

I smirked. "Are those Ironwood's orders or your repressed concern about me?"

She sighed. "Honestly? Both. I think two missions with them is still too much of a risk. You _aren't_ Perse."

I shrugged. "That's not what the Fang believes."

"For now." Winter stated.

"For now." I agreed.

There was silence again as both Winter and I collected our thoughts. There was so much left unsaid, but I couldn't be away for long. Finally, she passed me a little pouch that I believed held enough NZT pills for a month.

"You take care of yourself." She spoke, getting off her seat. I noticed that she wasn't making eye-contact for once. " I don't want to be the one answering to your sisters if something happens to you."

I nodded. "Don't worry. As you commanding officer, it is my duty to make sure I don't fuck up and make you look bad."

She nodded and walked away, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

* * *

"This the place huh?"

It was a rhetorical question. They'd sent me the location of this warehouse on the burner scroll they'd provided me. They were here, and this was the only privately owned arms stockade on the outskirts of Atlas. Still, Argus nodded in response.

I took a look at the gathered congregation. Me, Argus, Blake, Adam, and two of the mooks that I'd seen around the base. There was a truck parked in the public parking lot we were standing in. I looked around for cameras, only to find none.

Of course.

"Alright. The plan's simple. Perse, you're going to be our vanguard for this fight. You, Blake, Me and Adam are going to storm the facility. We keep as a group and look for the surveillance room. Destroy everything there." He then pointed at the two mooks, "Erin and Max here will then back the truck into the facility's loading bay. We rendezvous with them and help them load as much heavy ordnance as we can possibly carry."

I nodded. A simply resupply mission for a terrorist group. Of course, why was I even entertaining the idea that they had some sort of supplier? The Fang were known for their autonomy, they wouldn't bow to some human supplier's wishes to procure something as trivial as weaponry.

"The entire facility is manned by older robot models. Some of the early generation spider droids and a few knights. I and Perse will take the Spider droids, Blake and Adam can handle the Knights. Leave no robot alive, Erin and Max aren't really combat oriented." He finished.

"What if we run into any humans?" I asked.

"Up to you. We're removing all footage of the attack either way." Argus spoke. "Try to not let them see you. Kill them or threaten them if needed."

"I'd recommend against killing, but we're on a timer here." He continued, "It takes fifteen minutes for the Atlesian defence force to mobilize and get here. Those guys are anything but not efficient."

"It's unlikely we run into any human opposition, to begin with." He finished. "Now, let's go."

We fell in line behind Argus as he crossed the street. I had to hand it to Blake and Adam, they had the same sort of discipline one would expect from a trained militia. We jumped over the walls of the compound, following Argus through the path of least resistance. We couldn't open fire till we disabled the cameras.

Blake was on it, using her weapon as a grappling hook. I had to admit, what she lost in raw combat skill, she made up for in sheer versatility. She entered the first-floor room and I heard the telltale sounds of blunt-force trauma on machinery.

"Cameras are down." She spoke, popping her head out of the window.

"Perse, let's move. Adam, join Blake inside." Argus spoke as he dashed out into the main grounds of the facility. I followed. Scarcely ten meters through the grounds, we heard the ominous noise of heavy machinery activating.

Four Spiders.

"Two for each?" I asked Argus.

"I was thinking three for me, one for you." He shot back, drawing a long dagger from his belt.

"Let you have more of the fun? Forget it. Even split." I shot back.

"Suit yourself, don't cry when I kill all four before you can take down one." Argus spoke as he dashed towards the closest spider. I went for the one at the very end.

Huntsmen who lambasted Atlas military tech for being ineffective against anything but basic, auraless civilians had probably never squared off against a spider droid. These were the Atlesian heavy hitters, strong enough to give a Behemoth a pause and fast enough to give Beowolves a run for their money.

They were anti-grimm units, with size and heavy artillery. Powerful enough to defend, vicious enough to attack.

It fired at me almost immediately. I could perfectly understand what its code was telling it to do. I knew that the closest spider droid was already moving in to pincer me.

Suppressing fire from the front, a strong attack from the back. Predictable, pathetic.

I dashed into the spider droid that was firing at me. I reinforced my legs, weaving through lines of automatic fire. One bullet would currently end me, but there was no thrill. I already knew where the droid was going to fire next, how it would try and control my movement. Behind me, I already knew that the second droid was getting ready to launch a beam attack.

Perfect.

I reached the first droid just as the droid behind me decided to fire. I pumped all my aura reserves into my legs and backflipped.

I went soaring above the beam, which went straight through the first droid. At this point I was at the apex of my jump, descending quickly on the second droid. I shifted my body so my legs pointed right at the droid.

Then, I dropped.

I crashed right through the droid, bashing a hole through its main body. It collapsed around me, surrounding me with almost half a tonne of metal. I stood in the hole I'd punched through its body, marvelling at my handiwork.

The entire fight had taken me scarcely more than a few seconds. It was a testament to what I'd become.

"That was barely a warmup." I heard Argus say as I jumped out of the hole. What I saw was enough to give me a reason to worry.

Both the droids he'd gone up were mere piles of scrap. My mind tried to calculate how he'd defeated them, especially with just that dagger of his, but I couldn't come up with an answer.

How powerful exactly was he?

My ruminations were broken when I heard the truck back into the open ground. What followed was a flurry of movement as we started to load the back of the truck with boxes filled with weaponry. It scarcely took a few minutes before the truck was full.

Even with a full truck, we'd barely left a dent in the size of the repository.

"We're out of here." Adam spoke as he climbed into the truck. I followed him inside. I had barely stepped foot inside when the truck jerked into movement. I steadied myself, crouching down next to a crate. Adam did the same.

"Well, that went off without a hitch." Adam spoke as we cleared the main ground. I was about to confirm that when I heard the distinctive thud of a vehicle hitting something. In my peripheral vision, I saw a body fly off to the side. The driver had the moral decency to stop the Truck.

"Spoke too soon." I answered, jumping off the bed of the truck and running over to the person we'd hit. It was a typical teenage girl, probably on her way back from a party. She was pretty hurt, but still drawing breath. We didn't ram into her at much speed. Looking at her injuries, I could determine that she'd live, given that we could get her to a hospital in time.

"We need to get her help." I spoke, looking at Adam and Argus, who were running over to me. Blake wasn't, and that surprised me a bit.

"She's a human, not our problem. Plus, we cannot risk the truck." Adam responded without missing a beat. Argus seemed to be of the same opinion.

"I'm not just going to jeopardize the life of an unrelated person because our driver can't keep his eyes on the road." I answered.

"So, what are you going to do?" Argus asked.

"I'm going to leave her at the closest hospital, won't walk in. There's one a few miles away. I could get there in ten minutes or less."

"You're jeopardizing both our mission and our safety!" Adam shouted.

"And your underlings jeopardized her life, because of his incompetence." I shot back, effectively shutting him up. "I'll go. We're all wanted people, I just know how to hide better than any of you."

Argus nodded, I picked the girl up and shot off between buildings, making my way to the nearest hospital.

I had to report this to Winter.

* * *

"She's quite lucky you got her here in time." The doctor spoke, giving me a tired smile. "Heavy internal bleeding, cracked ribs. She would have died of haemorrhaging had you been an hour late."

I sighed. "Thank you for operating on such short notice."

The doctor waved his hand. "This hospital is owned by the Schnee, mister Arc. You came with personal commendation from miss Winter herself."

I nodded. "The bill will be handled by the military base. Please contact her parents or guardians and let them know she'd fine."

"What about you, mister Arc? She'll want to know who saved her."

I shook my head. "That's sensitive information. I'd rather you not tell her."

"As you wish. Have a good night." He finished, walking back to the girl's room. I breathed out a sigh of relief. Winter had been accommodating enough to listen to his request in the middle of the night, even if she'd been a bit grumbly about having to wake up.

I finally made my way out of the hospital, taking a second to breathe in the cold night air. It wouldn't be smart of me to not go back to the base for the night, especially with the number of cops crawling all over Atlas. I opened up the scroll they'd given me to send them a message, only to find one waiting for me already.

It was a set of coordinates sent by Blake. I entered it into my map screen, marking the position to a back-alley two blocks away. I pressed the button on the Hardlight projector on my chest and watched as my body changed back to Perse's.

It took me ten minutes to get to the alley. Blake was already there. I gave her a warm smile, she didn't respond in kind.

"Is the girl going to be okay?" She asked.

"I wouldn't know. All I did was leave her at the hospital gates." I replied, "I stuck around for a while, but couldn't get in."

She nodded. "Oh really? And here I was under the impression that you could shapeshift."

I stopped dead in my tracks. She'd been following me? My hand automatically went for my weapon, but I steadied it, stopped it. That was the final option, diplomacy first.

"So, you followed me? I'm impressed, didn't know there was someone in the fang capable of giving me the slip." I responded, no mirth in my tone.

"You didn't make it easy. I almost lost you midway, but then you stopped to make that call of yours." She shrugged. "I caught up."

I sighed. "Yet, you haven't told anyone else, have you?"

She shook her head. "Consider it a gesture of good faith."

I laughed. "Since when is blackmail considered to be in 'good faith'?"

She sighed. "Yet here I am, in front of you, knowing that I cannot fight you. You could kill me right here, right now, and the Fang would list me as a casualty. Considering you were able to get a whole hospital into full alert, you could easily have the military cover up my murder."

I shook my head. "The last thing I want to do is kill you, Blake."

"Yet here you are, on a mission to infiltrate the White Fang." She answered. "You know who we are, you know where we live. You could have us killed in our sleep."

"I could, but I won't. You know what I'm here for, you know who I'm truly after." I answered, and she nodded.

"Argus, isn't it?"

"Yes, and we can't take him by force, as the past has successfully shown," I whispered. "Hence, my mission."

There was silence between us for a moment, till Blake finally decided to state her terms.

"I'll help you." She spoke, "But on one condition."

"Name it." I answered.

"I help you get to Argus, you help me desert the Fang." She answered.

"I had my suspicions, turns out I was right all along. You're Ghira Belladonna's daughter through-and-through, aren't you?" I stated, and her emotions flickered between hate, anger, and regret. Finally, they settled on guilt.

"You don't need to explain, Blake. If you want to leave and start anew, I'll do my best to make it happen." I answered, giving her my hand to shake.

"... thankyou." she responded, taking it.

* * *

 **And that's it. I'll update again whenever I do get the time. Knowing me, it won't be anytime soon.**

 **-CruelRuin**


	5. Chapter 5 - White Lights

**So I kinda got lost time-wise writing this one. Originally had this chapter end at 17000 words, but then I cout out a good chunk of it so that I can trim it a bit and use it for chapter 6.**

 **This is the culmination of the Pre-Atlas arc, and I wanted to cut off right before the first semester starts. I'm having all four huntsmen schools start at the same time, so as to have a pre-established canonical time-frame for events and stuff.**

 **This also means that we won't be seeing any members of Teams RWBY and JNPR for a while, because the first season of RWBY is pretty much confined to Beacon-only characters.**

 **As such, the next arc will be one of my own creation. The storyline will concentrate on two scientists and their rivalry. Yes, that means Penny will have a lot more screen time.**

 **I hope you like the bubbly android as much as I do.**

 **So, here's the chapter, I hope you like it!**

* * *

I was never the most patient person.

It was a personality trait that my sisters had commented on mercilessly. Sure, the Arc family was known for being impulsive, but having the dream of becoming career huntsmen from childhood, most of my sisters had tried to tone down their impulsive behavior to some extent, if not completely quashed it.

My father is a prime example. Mom would regularly regale us with stories of how he was a brash, hard-headed teen. She didn't like him much back then. A few years into service as huntsmen and huntresses, sharing missions, she'd started to rub off him, and him on her.

By the time that he retired, he was almost saintlike in his behavior, but mom was a lot more impulsive. So it was fair to say I got my shitty impulse control from my mom, who got it from my dad, who lost it because of my mom.

Guess that's how the cookie crumbles.

So waiting for this remote outfit of the white fang to actually _do_ something was harrowing, especially because I was off NZT as much as I could afford. Communication with the base at Atlas was rare, I couldn't just waltz into the center at Atlas in my 'Perse' getup, neither could I just tell the people at the White Fang base that I wanted to take a nice little walk all the way to the city as a wanted criminal.

The base itself was quite calm for the most part, or as calm as a terrorist base got. It was mostly just me, Blake, Argus and Adam. Sometimes some other members would show up, but they never stayed long. Some wouldn't even stay long enough to take off their masks. I still did my best to profile as many of them as I could. Any knowledge I could give the people at Atlas, I kept. They wanted me back as soon as I could be back, but I had this nagging feeling that I was close to something.

Off NZT, there was no way I could deny my impulses, but it was the fact that my impulse doubled while I was on NZT was what prompted me to stick it out in this precarious position. If push came to shove, I could claim my extended mission as a chance to create profiles on White Fang militants on the active roster.

It was a flimsy excuse, but given my exalted position as Ironwood's pet project, it would be enough to buy me some time.

What really put a damper on proceedings was the fact that most of the militants who came to this base came here with the purpose of laying low after doing something. I was not in a 'real' position of power, so I wasn't brought in as Argus debriefed them. As for missions, after the attack on the armory, we'd been laying low.

It afforded me more time to learn about my compatriots, and the more I saw, the more conflicted I got.

Adam was an enigma unto himself. He wouldn't talk to me much, but that was expected after the scathing loss I gave him. What I did notice was how he'd go out of his way to gain Argus's approval. I'd learned from Blake that Adam saw him as something of a mentor, almost like a surrogate father.

Speaking of Blake, she was the biggest enigma of them all. I couldn't understand why she was part of this all. I knew well enough who she was related to, but that just served to drive the knife of doubt deeper into me. Her parents had left the White Fang before it truly became an extremist group. I learned through small conversations with the other White Fang agents that seemed to know them that she and Adam had been pretty serious about each other at some point in time. That relationship wasn't something I could see blossoming, and apparently, neither could Blake.

Which is why she'd approached me, more so caught me red-handed as I returned after cleaning up the mess made by the White Fang driver. It was a simple trade. I got her out, and she'd hand me Adam on a silver platter. How? Well, that was the kicker.

She'd betray him on a mission, and I'd swoop in to capture him. Just like a scene out of some low-budget crime drama.

It still didn't help me get to Argus. Nothing I did actually helped there. Argus was as well-defended as they came. Not only did he have the skill and strength to wipe the floor with me, NZT or no NZT, he was also the most perceptive bastard I had ever had the displeasure of meeting. Whenever he saw me, I could see the smile that crept up on his face, like he knew something I didn't.

It was disconcerting, to say the least, but if he knew who I was, I wouldn't be here. Hell, I likely wouldn't be alive.

It was a testament to how far I had come with my training that I could keep calm around him off NZT. It also helped my confidence along, that I could act normal in a high-pressure situation without the wonder drug.

Still, the only way I could imagine taking Argus in was if he fucked up big time. If I was able to set up an ambush for him. No matter how good he was, with enough huntsmen, he could be captured.

I knew - deep in my heart - that if I stayed on my course, an opportunity like that would provide itself. No one can be perfect, everyone messes up. All I needed was a catalyst. With Blake's escape plan, I could create one.

All I needed to do was to rope him into the plan, and I could end it.

It was a shame Sienna has already left for Vacuo. That woman gave me the creeps, but Information on her was worth its weight in gold. As it stood, I didn't even know how she fought.

"Off in your own world again?"

My ruminations were cut short as Blake came and sat next to me. This had become a pretty common occurrence, and people had started taking notice, especially Adam. Thankfully, his mind was too focussed on the newfound closeness between me and Blake to realize that she might have an ulterior motive.

Jealousy was a sin, and I would exploit it as I saw fit.

"Just thinking about your plan, you know? There are so many things that can go wrong." I spoke up, and Blake sighed.

"It's my only chance. If I was in a larger outpost, in a place where the fang held more power, I wouldn't be able to pull this off, ever." She whispered, a conflicted look on her face.

"You're still conflicted, you still hold loyalty towards the Fang… or towards Adam." I spoke up, and she glared at me, but her intimidation found no purchase, and her expression dulled.

"I… No. I Don't." She breathed out. "The Adam I knew is different from what he's become." She sighed and then gave me a smile. "Plus, I really don't want to stick around and get taken in by the Atlesian military. "

I chuckled. "Think about it, I'd make sure you get a comfy cell."

Blake punched me lightly on the shoulder, a sign that she was warming up to me. "The fact that it'll have a few cushions doesn't change the fact that it'll still be a prison cell."

I nodded. "As long as you're serious about this, I don't think you'll ever have to see the insides of a cell."

"Even though I've done so much while I was with the Fang?" She asked, and I nodded.

"The most we've got on you is like one charge of arson, and the proof we have that links you to it is circumstantial at best." I chuckled. "I don't think that's enough to condemn you to a life of incarceration."

Blake was silent for a second, "You're far too nice for an Atlesian agent, especially after I tried blackmailing."

I chuckled. "Well, you're an accomplice of mine now. You hold my secret and I hold yours. You knew that but tried to bluff me. Had you been seriously trying to blackmail me, you wouldn't be so forthcoming. Knowledge is power and all that jazz."

Blake snorted. "I don't even know your real name, so much for 'knowledge'."

I gave her a grin. "Well, I've got to keep some things secret, don't I."

Blake gave me a deadpan look. "you must be _really_ popular with the ladies."

"Oh, dear Blake, you have _no idea_."

* * *

"So, what've you got for me?"

It was a relief to hear Winter's voice. I let out a sigh that I didn't even know I was holding.

"Well, nothing much. I already sent you personnel files for the agents I've identified." I spoke, trying to find a good way to broach the topic of helping Blake.

"Yet you jeopardize your safety to call me, c'mon Jaune, I might not be on NZT, but I'm no idiot." She spoke back.

"I know that, Winter, and I'm _not_ on NZT right now." I tried to defend myself, wondering whether I should have used a pill before calling her. As it was, I was just appealing to the good in her heart, I could have done that better was I on NZT.

I didn't have many pills left, though. Had to ration what little I could.

"So, tell me, what do you want." She asked, all business.

"So, umm. A mission came down to Adam and Blake through the grapevine." I started, trying to find the best way to explain the situation. "Basically it's another one of the train raids the Fang's been orchestrating."

"Are you part of this raid?" She asked.

"No, but I know who are, and I know when and where it's happening, as well as what train they're targeting." I spoke, and Winter caught on incredibly fast.

"It's one of my family's freight trains, isn't it?" She asked.

"Yes… and I need you to reduce the security on it." I responded without missing a beat, and there was silence.

"Jaune, you have ten seconds to explain what kind of logic led you to _that_ decision." Winter spoke, incensed. This was my window, and I had to make it. Thoughts jumbled in my head as I tried to come up with the most coherent way to convince her.

This shit was so much easier on NZT.

"I have someone on that train that wants to defect, and I want to help them." It was a simple statement, enough to get Winter's attention. That's all I wanted, time to explain myself to her.

"And why exactly do you want to help a member of the White Fang?" Winter asked, her voice ice-cold.

"She's offering us both Adam Taurus and Argus, is that not reason enough?" I asked.

"In that case, why don't I go ahead and increase the security on the train? They'll be apprehended, we'll get three militants for the price of _nothing_." Winter shot back.

"That's the thing, Winter. She isn't a militant. She doesn't want anything to do with them." I retorted.

"Oh, sure, the terrorist just wants to up and leave her buddies. How nice. What's she gonna do then? Become a huntsman?" She asked.

"I mean, I think that's her plan." I replied, only to hear a hiss of anger from Winter.

"I don't give a shit, Jaune. She can atone for her past in the prison cell she'll get once we've caught her." Winter spoke, and suddenly, I was pissed.

"Oh really? That's how you see the members of the fang? Many of the profiles I've given you don't even _have_ criminal charges. Would you have them rot in jail cells too? Hell, if we're talking about people who've dodged jail cells, what about the Schnee management? I wonder what happened to that case against them. Y'know, the case which states they failed to provide basic rights to Faunus workers under their care?" I spoke with venom in my voice, taking Winter by surprise.

"And before you say anything to defend them, I've met refugees from the mines, they do work with the Fang now, but then again, why wouldn't they? At least they get treated like people here." I continued to dig the nail deeper.

"... is this your way of asking someone for help, Jaune? Cause it isn't really effective." She shot back, and I calmed down a bit. I couldn't explain what came over me, but I wasn't apologizing.

"No, I'm just trying to point out that if your managers deserve to live free lives, so does a girl with nothing on her criminal profile except for a supposed association with individuals that she wants to _get away from._ " I finished, having said my piece.

There was silence for a few good moments, allowing realization of what all I'd just said to come crashing down on me. I'd never say half this stuff on NZT. Hell, I was pretty sure I'd never need to go this far or to appeal to her sense of morals.

"You feel strongly about this, and I did choose to follow you." She spoke with a slight sigh. "You haven't led me astray yet, so I'll do what you ask, just this once."

"Thank you," I spoke, a small smile coming to my face unbidden. "Trust me, you'd agree with me on this if you knew Blake."

"Considering she plans to use a train which contains my family's property as an impromptu stage for her daring escape, I highly doubt that." She spoke. "But I can at least humor you. Send me the details of the train, I'll make sure a group of huntsmen are ready to pick Adam and Argus up."

"Yeah, about that. Thanks to Blake, I know that Argus is on a different mission." I spoke up. "Only Adam and Blake are going to be on the train. Argus is going to have a mission in Atlas itself.

"And what would this mission be?" She asked. I took a deep breath.

"It's an assassination, someone high profile in Atlas." I spoke, and I could _feel_ Winter stiffen, even though she was dozens of miles away.

"Who, where, when?"

I took another breath. "Well, we haven't been informed, but we'll know soon enough."

"Wait, Jaune, what do you mean by ' _we'_?"

Of course, she'd catch on.

"When I said that Blake would give me Adam and Argus, This is what I meant." I began to explain, "The assassination was originally going to be carried out by Adam and Argus. She pulled Adam out on a mission, so someone had to take his place…"

"Oh Jaune, what have you gotten yourself into?" Winter asked, genuine concern in her voice.

"Don't worry, Winter." I responded, a nervous smirk forming on my face. "If I can play my cards right, I can change this situation into something much, much better."

"And with NZT, I'm going to make sure my deck is stacked."

* * *

 **Adam POV**

* * *

I'd always been taught by my teacher to trust in my instinct.

It'd saved my life before, more times than I could count. Back in Vacuo, it saved me from bandits. Further back, in Menagerie, it had helped me get away from various lynchings. As such, I placed a lot of weight in my instincts.

So the fact that my instincts were _screaming_ bloody murder almost made me call off the mission.

It was the fact that my partner was switched from Perse to Blake helped calm my nerves a little. I'd been in life-or-death situations with her way too many times. It was a relief having a familiar face with me, especially one that I shared such a bond with.

Still didn't remove the trepidation I felt, merely helped reduce it a bit.

"Pay attention, Adam. We have company."

I nodded. We'd 'boarded' the train from Forever Fall forest in Vale. I'd be the first to admit it felt very nice to get out of the frigid winters of Atlas. That place wasn't meant for people to live in. It was a country built on the exploitation of Faunus labor. I hated it, hated it too much to bear it for too long.

I stepped out of the partition between two freight cars, taking the atlas bot by surprise. Before it could open fire, I'd already cut it down and was moving on to the next. Blake shot forward, heading towards the engine car. Her speed allowed her to run right through the third bot, which had opened fire.

That was the basis of our strategy. I ran distraction while she rerouted the train.

I sliced my way through the atlas bots with much ease, but it did nothing to silence my intuition. There was too little opposition.

"Well, look what we have here."

Adam was forced to dodge out of a hail of bullets coming at him. He flipped back and used an atlas bot to dodge a sword coming at him. He kicked off the robot, pushing back his assailant, and he finally got his first look at them.

Three huntsmen, experienced by the look of them. They wore Atlesian regalia.

"Quite a ways from home, aren't you?" I taunted, blocking a strike from one of them. The train was passing over a bridge. If I could hold them back for a few minutes, I could escape into the surrounding forests.

I'd hidden in forests on so many occasions, from much larger units of much better-prepared huntsmen. These were three Atlesian huntsmen, they stood no chance of finding me in a Vale-ian forest.

"Trying to buy time, are we?" One of the huntsmen, a tall, blonde man at least ten years my senior, spoke. "The little terrorist thinks he's going to escape us, does he?"

"I've fought and escaped better opponents, no offense." I shot back, repositioning myself so that the huntswoman in the back couldn't shoot at me without jeopardizing her own teammates.

"Oh don't we know that, Adam Taurus. Let you into a forest and you disappear, like you were never even there." The blonde spoke, crossing blades with Adam.

"So, we got some help to make sure you never reach the forest."

The screeching of my intuition came to a head as the train started to brake. As the screeching of the train wheels and the tracks came to a crescendo, my heart fell. There were Atlesian huntsmen on an unmanned Atlesian freight train. There was a distinct lack of opposition all throughout the mission, not even a spider bot on the train. Finally, they'd come to a stop on a bridge spanning over a gorge. There was no escape.

I'd been betrayed by Blake.

"Finally setting in, isn't it?" The blonde spoke, slowly circling around me. His other melee compatriot was doing the same, while the Huntress with the rifle was unmoving. They were surrounding me, not that they needed to. The gorge already made sure I wouldn't escape.

They just wanted to make sure they suffered no losses.

"What did you offer her? What could you give her that the White Fang couldn't?" I asked, still trying to understand why someone so close to me would just up and betray me.

"Oh, I don't know. She struck a deal with one of Ironwood's own. If it were up to me, I'd be taking her in just as I'll be doing to you." He spoke. "And once we're done with you, Argus will be next."

"You think you could actually take Argus? He'll make you bleed." I answered, anger coursing through my veins. Argus was a Faunus hero, a remnant of the old war. You didn't live as long as him in a profession like ours by being 'passable'.

"Oh, we won't be lifting a finger." The blonde spoke. "As we speak, his mission has been compromised. All he's going to find is a trap, and you really can't dodge a trap that you can't see coming."

"Awfully bold of you to assume that he'll fall for some pathetic trap." I countered, but their confidence was far too high. You couldn't _be_ that confident when dealing with Argus, and people knew that well enough, especially in Vale.

"Oh yes, he will. After all, he's already been compromised." The blonde shot back, and finally, my instincts stopped screaming.

"Perse. He's a mole, isn't he?" I asked, and the blonde grinned.

"Awfully bold of you to assume that the man you took in was actually Perse Mulberry." He smirked. "In essence, though, you'd be right. We've had your number for a while now. Shame Sienna Khan didn't stick around for long, woulda loved to stick her into a jail cell too."

That was a mistake. Finally, a smile returned to my face. My hand slowly inched towards blush, my finger flicking the chamber switch to dust rounds.

"You actually expect Argus to be taken in by a mole pretending to be someone else, do you?" I smiled, and the blonde's smile faltered. "You really know so little about him, yet you believe you've caught him."

"let me assure you, that's not the case."

With that, I shot Blush from its holster around my waist. The dust rounds burrowed into the container below me and exploded.

Explosions didn't mix that well with a container full of dust.

My world went up in bright lights as I was flung from the train by the sheer force of the explosion. I fell, and I fell for a long time. Finally, my body impacted water, and my aura took as much of the blow as it possibly could.

My world turned dark, and I knew no more.

* * *

 **Jaune POV**

* * *

I woke up with a start, confused as to why I was still alive

My head still hurt, but that was a given. Aura was a beautiful healing tool, but when I was hit, my aura wasn't active. It was part of my strategy to keep Argus calm, to tell him that I was comfortable in his presence.

It was pointless.

He'd known, and even with NZT, he was far too good at hiding his hand for me to catch on to his plan. We'd barely made it to Atlas when he'd asked me to scout ahead. I had relaxed for a single second, and he'd struck me in the head with the pommel of his knife.

I was just surprised he hadn't ended me right there.

Hell, if he'd known all along, why hadn't he told anyone? Blake couldn't have tipped him off, else he'd make sure her she wasn't on a mission. They'd have done me in and abandoned their base.

I then noticed something hard poking at me. I scrambled up to find a scroll right where I was passed out. it wasn't the burner scroll that the White Fang had given me. I picked it up and recognized that it was the scroll I'd seen Argus use on occasion. A very old model that always stood out.

I scrambled to switch it on. There was no lock on it, which struck me as odd. As I finally got the thing switched on, I realized why.

There was only one file on the home screen, a file named 'Read'. So, I did exactly what it asked.

 _Hello, Infiltrator._

 _Firstly, good job on getting yourself so well-ingrained into the White Fang. You even managed to fool Sienna, who was quite intimate with Perse at a point of time. Had it not been for my semblance, you might have fooled me too._

 _But you didn't, and we're here now._

 _For someone as young as you, you're immensely skilled. I can't kill you in good conscience. It would leave a bad taste in my mouth. So, here's a little reward, your life. I'd ask you to take it and leave, hone your craft. Become a warrior that stands between humanity and the darkness._

 _We'll probably never meet again. You've allowed me the perfect opportunity to end myself. I'm an old soul, I've been here too long. I have nothing left in this world, but the White Fang would never let me go._

 _You've given me the perfect chance to end it all. I thank you for that. I know full well that I'm walking into a trap, and you know full well now that they will not take me alive._

 _A pure death in combat, it's all I want, especially after what I've done. It's not something a coward like me deserves, but if it allows me to join my brothers in hell, I'll take it. Heaven wouldn't have any of us, after all._

 _My only regret is that I never learned your name. I would have liked to meet and know someone with your guts, maybe even fight you when you're at your peak. That is how I would have liked to go. Guess we never truly get what we want. I know that better than others, yet I cannot help but hope, sometimes._

 _Argus._

My mind instantly booted into gear. My hand slipped into my pocket unbidden and reached for the last two pills of NZT I had. My mind was in panic, I needed some sense of reason. Ten seconds after having the pill, my mind found it.

Then, I burst into action.

I switched on my transceiver and connected to home base. Mere seconds after I initiated the connection, I heard the panicked voice of Ironwood answer.

That was bad, Ironwood never panicked.

"Jaune, thank god you're alive. Where are you right now?" He asked, trying to calm himself down as he was trying to calm me down too.

"Argus knocked me out. Left me alive though. Please tell me you were able to capture him." I asked. The silence I got answered enough.

"I see… so Argus in no more." I spoke, this time, the silence I was expecting wasn't there. Instead, there was a hint of panic, even fear, in Ironwood's voice.

"No. While Argus originally fought with reckless abandon, something changed mid-fight. He was able to incapacitate most of the huntsmen and escape." He answered. Again, my mind went into overdrive.

"The area was surrounded by airships, by Huntsman teams. How was he able to escape?" I asked, even as my mind found an answer, an answer I was dreading.

"He… he took a hostage." Ironwood answered, and I knew who.

"He took Winter, didn't he?"

The silence was my answer. She hadn't answered my call, Ironwood had, even though she was supposed to be my point of contact. The assassination target was Winter's sister, and she was the one who was leading the ambush team.

But why hadn't Argus taken his death as he had originally planned? The letter was too heartfelt, too raw to be a lie. How did I know this? Well, I was still breathing, Argus had still walked into the trap, even though he knew about it. What had changed?

There was only one way to answer that.

"Ironwood, where is he?" I asked. There would be venom in my voice, but NZT stilled my anger, it stilled my doubt. It filled me with purpose and told me what needed to be done. It told me that there was only one way to get my answers.

"He escaped to Mantle. He's positioned himself in the old military tower in the city's outskirts." He answered, knowing well enough that there was no stopping me, no matter how hard he tried.

The only way I'd get my answers was from the source, even if I had to beat them out of him.

"I'll be going there alone. Me and Argus need to talk."

* * *

"You sure you wanna do this, Jaune?"

Ironwood's voice held both concern and confidence. We'd gotten to Mantle in less than an hour on an airship. There were three other airships already circling the tower. I wanted to get to the place as soon as possible, give Argus as little time as I could to lick his wounds.

Aura healed slowly, and he'd taken quite a bit of damage before he'd escaped. I didn't want to give him time to lick his wounds, considering how I wasn't sure I could take him at his best.

"I have to. I need to know why he broke his word." I answered.

"I hope you can do this, soldier." Jacques Schnee spoke up. "Me and my daughter might not be on the best of terms, but I wouldn't see her ended by a savage."

"It would be unwise to call someone skilled enough to end your personal guard with nary a scratch a 'savage', Mr. Schnee." I retorted. He narrowed his eyes as he regarded me, but a pompous man in a white suit was the last of my worries right now.

"As for your daughter, I don't think she's in danger. He'd have killed her otherwise, or else made a demand." I continued. "He hasn't asked for anything, even though we've had three bullheads following him for the last hour."

"What does he want then? Money? Amnesty?" Schnee asked. I just shook my head.

"That's what I'm going down there to find out. No matter what happens, I'll make sure your daughter is safe." I replied.

"If push comes to shove, what do you want us to do?" Ironwood asked. I had to suppress a chuckle. Here he was, outranking me by far, yet asking me what course of action to take.

"If we fight, do not intervene," I answered. "If I die, shoot him down."

Ironwood didn't ask why I didn't tell them to shoot him down in the first place. The wind was too high for a precise sniper shot, and it looked like it was about to rain, a rarity for a frigid city like Mantle. There was a high chance that any shot meant for Argus could hit me or even Winter. Plus, if Argus survived the bullet, there was no telling what he would do to Winter.

"Affirmative. You have permission to deploy."

I nodded once before I jumped out of the airship. We weren't too high above the tower, so I was able to land with much ease. Multiple layers of aura mitigated my fall.

"Welcome, Imposter," Argus spoke up from where he sat. Behind him lay an unconscious Winter, her prone body leaning on a support pillar for a decrepit antenna.

"You've never seen my real face, yet you know who I am. How?" I asked, prompting Argus to give me a wry smile.

"My semblance allows me to detect anyone I meet. When Blake and Adam brought you to the base, I knew that you weren't Perse," he spoke. "And now that you've shown up without a disguise, I can recognize you."

"So, you knew I was an imposter from the moment I stepped into that base. Why didn't you turn me in?" I asked, and he chuckled.

"I wanted to see what you could do, what you wanted to get done." He answered. "I wanted to see what kind of person you were. It isn't every day I come across someone so ballsy and so skilled that he can perfectly emulate someone else, fighting style and all."

"I'll take that as a compliment." I grimaced. "So, let me guess, you had a change of heart about the whole 'dying' situation, did you now?"

Argus' smile dropped. "Oh no, I went in with full certainty that I was about to die." He spoke, shifting his head to the side. "But then I ran into her."

I followed his gaze to Winter, who he looked at with a certain amount of care in his eyes. Now, I was truly confused.

"What about her?" I asked, and Argus sighed. It was a simple action, but it was so full of grief, or pain and guilt.

"You know what I am, right?" He asked, and I nodded. Argus was a Slave Knight. Everyone who knew of the man knew what he was, and what he was capable of.

"So, tell me, Imposter, how much do you know about the Slave Knights?" He asked. I wondered if telling him what little I knew would be worth it, there was something here, something he _knew_ I didn't know.

"Not enough, apparently," I replied, and he nodded.

"Good answer. I don't blame you for not knowing. We were one of the SDC's first cover-ups." He sighed. "After all, we were a source of National pride once."

"And you ruined that, you killed Nicholas Schnee, you killed three of your own teammates. You ran as the rest were consigned to their fate." I calmly spoke. Argus didn't rise to the bait though. Instead, he dropped his head in shame. When he spoke next, his voice was barely audible over the sound of the wind.

"You actually believe that me, the youngest, weakest slave knight could kill three of our strongest?" He asked.

I had no answer.

"We're slave knights. We used to wear that title with pride, because of what it represented to us." He continued, a wistful look on his face. "We were little kids, sold into slavery by our parents for meager sums. Nicholas Schnee picked us up as kids, trained us so that we could protect the miners he employed. He brought us out of doomed lives, he gave us purpose."

"We saw him as a savior, as a father, and then he stabbed us all in the back."

I opened my mouth to speak, but Argus silenced us with a hand. He sighed, then continued. "Do you know what happens to slaves once their master dies? Well, it's pretty simple. We are passed on to their heir, just like any piece of property."

"When we served Nicholas, he promised us freedom once the war was done, once his mines were safe." He continued. "He'd never done wrong by us, never let us down. He cared for us like we were his equals."

"This that little shit Jacques came, and so did Nicholas' illness," he spoke, venom entering his voice. "The miserable pile of shit made Nicholas sign us over to him as part of his inheritance, it was one of his major motives behind marrying into the Schnee family."

"The bastard wanted everything Nicholas had. That included us too. We were his influence, and his company was his capital." Argus stuttered, trying to reign in his hatred. "And Jacques, the miserable little shit, was a charming bastard. He stole _her_ heart, and Nicholas could never say no to _her_ demands."

"By her, I assume you mean Winter's mother." I chimed in, and Argus nodded.

"Glad to see you're still paying attention." he joked, his face crinkled with a half-smile before it went somber again. "I was the runt of the litter amongst the Slave Knights. I wasn't as strong as the vanguards, neither was I as quick as the assassins. So, my job was to protect the little princess." He chuckled. "Imagine a ten-year-old Faunus protecting a seven-year-old Schnee. Sounds outlandish, does it not?"

I nodded. Given the current feud between the Faunus and the Schnee, it sounded like an impossibility.

"Back then? We Faunus made up for the majority of Nicholas' workforce. It was once the _norm_." He clarified. "But yeah, my job kept me by her all day, every day. So, here's a question, what happens when two kids who are isolated from society spend their entire day together?"

I made to answer, but the question was hypothetical. "They become to closest of friends, and then, as they grow up, that blossoms into love. Even though we knew we could never be together, I still cared for her enough that seeing her being used by Jacques filled me with hate."

"The news that we were to be 'offered' to Nicholas was the last straw. So, me and three of my brothers fought our way through the Schnee estate. My brothers lost their lives to the many guards Jacques made sure to station in the house. Finally, it was just me and Nicholas, in that old office of his." He finished.

"He smiled when I killed him. I think I put him out of his misery." Argus spoke, his tone one of calm finality. "The old man was crafty. He knew that he'd waste away in a little room, with Jacques making sure he stayed alive till he was still useful. So, he instigated us to take him out." he chuckled.

"We should have known. Nicholas told us when he was young that he'd rather die on his feet than on a sickbed." he finished.

"So, let me get this right," I spoke, giving him a cursory glance. "Nicholas Schnee basically set you and your compatriots up to kill him."

Argus laughed. "Oh, that was just the beginning of his plan. He wanted the Faunus to be free. We were the strongest of the Faunus. He thought we'd spread to the wind, start a revolution." His gaze fell again. "He knew I'd take the blame of the murder, that I'd remove myself from the group and exile myself. I'd become a pariah, and my brothers would become messiahs." His smile was radiant for a full second, reflecting the pride he felt in his peers. Then, just as it came, it was gone.

"Sadly, he couldn't have predicted Inhert Crimson."

He locked eyes with me, and I saw a crazed fear within them. It was the look of someone who had seen demons, images that would torture the mind forever. "The Crimson Wake was not a man. He couldn't have been. Full armies were too scared to fight the combined might of the slave knights. We were a fucking deterrent force for fuck's sake." Again, guilt, disbelief, and hatred. "Nicholas knew that, which is why he was so willing to trust us with the seeds of revolution."

"Then, the crimson wake came, and true to his name, all he left in his wake… was crimson." He finished, standing up.

"I should have perished that day with my brothers. Yet, here I am. Back home." He spread his arms, embracing the first droplets of rain, as they began to fall. "This tower was once the forward base of the Slave Knights. I promised to never return here, yet here I am."

"Yet here you are. And you brought Winter with you." I added.

"Her name's Winter, then. Pretty sure the princess got to name her. God knows what demon Jacques would name her after." He spoke. "When I saw her, that white hair, those eyes, I was brought back to a time where I had hope for my future."

"She reminded me of a time where I had something worth living for."

And with that, he was done talking. Now, it was my time.

"You can still come back. I could get Ironwood to look your case over. We could get you a reduced sentence." I spoke, even though I knew it wouldn't work. NZT was telling me that there was nothing I could offer Argus.

Nothing except for a warrior's death.

"You and I both know I have no intention of rotting away in a jail cell," Argus spoke, a bittersweet smile on his face. "I might be the weakest of the Slave Knights, but I was still one of them. As such, I will die as they did."

"You're injured and tired. There's no honor in dying here." I tried to reason, even though I knew that in his mind, this merely put us at an even playing field.

"It's not going to happen. Now, give me your name, and draw your blade, so that I can savor combat one last time." He spoke.

"You actually believe I'll kill you?" I asked, and he chuckled.

"If you don't, then there's still four airships circling this tower. Pretty sure one of them has a gun that and can aim well enough to shoot down a tired, old man." he joked.

There was no other alternative.

"... My name is Jaune Arc." I spoke, drawing Crocea Mors. "It's an honor to fight you."

"An Arc? if I didn't know better, I'd say my luck is turning." Argus spoke as he drew his Dust-powered knife. He twisted the pommel and the dust-blade extended till it was the size of a short-sword.

The rain was pouring at this point. "Even the skies mourn for my lost brothers. Or maybe, they mourn for us," he spoke with a smile. "For your sake, I hope they're just crying for me."

And with that, he was on me. I caught his first slash with my shield but found it impossible to parry his indomitable strength. So instead, I lowered my center of gravity and struck with my sword. He jumped back, letting go of the pressure on my shield.

I capitalized on the space I'd just created and rammed into him with my shield. He mitigated the blow completely by planting his feet and leaning into the blow, but then he winced, and my next slash found purchase. His Aura took the blow, but I'd landed the first hit.

Only because he was an injured man.

My mind told me that had he mitigated my shield charge completely, he would have an open window to counter, and I did not want to get hit with that dust-blade of his.

"You're skilled, if a bit reckless." Argus commented as he attacked again. It was similar to his last attack, almost like he was testing me.

So I obliged.

I slipped the slash and bashed him in the face with my shield. I hoped to stun him so my Blade could find purchase again, but he was better than that. In a show of alacrity, he blocked my arm with his off hand and delivered a blow to my face that sent me reeling. I felt my Aura drop a bit and steadied myself for his next attack, but it never came. Instead, Argus moved back with a confused look on his face.

"You adapt much too fast. It's eerily similar to how the Crimson wake fought." He spoke, then a smile came to his face. "Well, that just means I can't use that same trick against you twice."

Argus suddenly picked up speed, and I replied in kind. When it came to speed, I was no slouch. Yet Argus kept getting faster, edging me out by just a little.

He was testing me.

I decided that this was the best time for me to get some damage in. I sidestepped one of his slashes and quickly kneed him in the sternum. I predicted his rebuttal and parried his weapon, stabbing forward with Crocea Mors. I used as much Aura as I could to strengthen my stab. The resultant attack was so fast I could barely keep the whiplash from disjointing my shoulder.

Argus dodged it with ease.

He moved so fast I almost saw afterimages. Even with my training and a hearty dose of NZT, I couldn't quite fathom how he could escape that.

That's when I noticed an aberration in his aura and the fact that the dust crystal attached to his knife was missing.

"Well, a tricky one, aren't you?" Argus spoke, a mad grin on his face. "Would've skewered poor old me right there."

"So you can use dust-synchro?" I asked, knowing the complexity of the technique. The fact that he'd been able to pull it off so fast that I didn't notice was a testament to his skill.

Considering the size of the dust crystal he's used, he'd get a minute, maybe a minute and a half at best depending on control.

"Nicholas Schnee reinvented the technique, of course, he'd make sure all his strongest warriors would know it. You could say it's my legacy." Argus spoke as he twisted the handle of his knife. The handle extended till what he was holding was a spear.

"Plus, I've always been better with this than with a sword."

The speed at which Argus shot at me was not followable in the least. It was only through prediction that I was able to follow his blow and parry it with my shield. What I didn't expect was for his spear to shear through the metal of my shield like a knife through butter. It was the angle of my parry that saved me, making sure the spear couldn't find purchase in my torso.

I backpedaled, but Argus didn't follow. "Your weapon channels your dust." I commented, and he smirked.

"A byproduct of Dust Synchro." He spoke, raising a hand crackling with electricity. "But I guess you've already figured that out. Not that you're the only one."

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh? You learned something in that exchange, then?"

He nodded. "The way you fight, it's not normal. You have skills, but they're too mismatched to be part of any one style." he then grimaced. "I've seen how you move, I see some Adam in it, even some of my own style. Yet, you haven't been around us long enough to pull off our way of fighting with such ease."

His face then hardened. "You fight like the Crimson Wake, master of any style he saw one."

I grimaced. My secret was out. Still, I'd gotten him talking, and that meant I was wasting his time.

"You say that as if you've ever fought him." I stated.

"Oh, but I did. I sought him out once I learned of what he did to my brothers. I waylaid him on one of his missions and critically wounded his subordinate." He grimaced. "It was a ruse to make him fight at a disadvantage, but instead it ended up being my downfall."

He raised his shirt a bit, showing the beginnings of a horrific scar that started right above his waistline. It was an old scar, but just by looking at it, I could tell that it wasn't a wound meant to kill, but to cause agony.

"It goes up all the way to my chest, but not an inch further." He spoke, letting his shirt fall back into place. "I believe he cared about the woman I injured, because when I turned tail and ran, he decided instead to tend to her rather than follow."

"For someone who wanted to die on the field of battle, you sure have done a lot of running away." I taunted. It didn't have the desired effect, instead, it made Argus chuckle.

"Even in conversation you're like him. You taunt, buy yourself time. You interrogate as you fight." Argus spoke, the message he delivered was that he understood what I was trying to do, yet he was humoring me.

"You're almost out of time." I commented.

"So are you."

It would be an understatement to say I didn't see it coming. It took less than a tenth of a second for Argus to shift his stance and lunge at me. It was a predictable attack for any lancer, but the speed at which he delivered it, enhanced by the lightning dust, was unprecedented. Still, Hyper-reflexes were a gift of NZT, and I managed to intercept with the blade of my sword.

I didn't expect him to push all the remaining lightning power in his aura into the tip of his blade.

My aura, layered as it was over my blade, crumbled for a second. Then came the pain as thousands of volts of electricity tried to overwhelm my aura. I had to remove it, else it would kill me. My mind quickly went over what little I had learned about Dust Synchro, about the lessons pertaining to dust that Winter had given me, and suddenly, my Aura reacted.

Through the pain and the stress, my Aura began to flow. It took the electricity that was eating up on it and began to channel it instead. My mind was concentrated on defense, on nullification, and I felt as all the electricity that was coursing through my body was deposited into the bricks below my feet.

I had turned my aura into a perfect conductor.

The look of surprise on Argus' face told me that I had an opening, and I capitalized on it. My sword was being used defensively, and my shield was in tatters, so I did the only thing that was available to me.

I headbutted the son of a bitch.

It wasn't a normal headbutt either, as I put every ounce of aura I had into strengthening my shoulders and applied multiple layers of it to protect my own cranium.

Argus's own head wasn't quite as safe.

The blow stunned him enough for him to drop his aura, even if only for a second. The blow sent him reeling, and a small trickle of blood reddened the floor below him. The blow was meant to do some serious damage, but Argus was made of sterner stuff. All I'd succeeded in doing was fazing him.

But it bought me some time.

I could have capitalized, but I saw Argus' stiffen up. He was expecting me to attack, and doing so would be my end. He still had his spear, and he still had enough aura to not be knocked out by my blow. I had to come up with another plan.

Thankfully, that was my speciality.

I backed up and took stock of my situation. My blade was cracked and my shield was utterly destroyed. I dropped my shield, opting to reduce as much weight as I could. For my impromptu plan to work, I had to outspeed Argus, even if it was for a second.

"...you truly are like him." Argus breathed out, lowering his center of gravity. "To figure out a skill like dust synchro, a skill that I and my brothers took years to learn, in mere minutes. Truly, I couldn't have asked for a better opponent for my final bout." His smile slowly seeped away, replaced with stony-faced determination. "Originally, I simply wanted to die by your hand. Now, I see more in you. I see _him_ in you, and I want what was my right."

"Revenge."

Argus jumped high, higher than I possibly could. his body sparked anew with lightning, possibly because he used a new crystal. I braced for the incoming impact, making a show of preparing a defense.

At the last second, right as Argus was about to land on me, I reached into my pocket and brought out one of the small fire crystals I used in lieu of any ranged alternatives. Argus' eyes followed as I threw the crystal at him. His eyes widened as he realized that he couldn't dodge midair.

Then, an explosion sent both of us flying.

Due to having been launched from the ground, I could - to some extent - maneuver. I used this time to pull out two more crystals from my pockets. Another fire crystal, and a wind crystal. I threw the fire crystal at Argus as I crushed the wind crystal in my other hand. I prayed this would work as the fire crystal exploded in front of me, creating a ball of flame between me and my predicted location of Argus' landing.

I tried to pull the power of the wind crystal into my aura the same way I'd done for the lightning energy from Argus. Initially, I met resistance, as the wind was much different in nature to lightning, but then my Aura eased, and the wind energy seeped into my body.

It wasn't perfect dust-synchro. I'd have ten seconds at best, but that was all I'd need.

On cue, Argus shot through the ball of fire, his speed carried him through it without any damage. There was a crazed, wild look in his eyes. The very fact that I could see him move proved that I had - beyond a doubt - performed a dust synchro.

Argus' charge would have gored right through me otherwise.

Wind dust made me feel lighter. It wasn't raw speed like lightning dust seemed to provide Argus, Instead, it was a different kind of mobility. I almost felt lighter than air as I effortlessly moved out of Argus' way. In the same motion, I slashed down as Argus' body passed me by, hoping to incapacitate him.

To my horror, Argus _turned_.

My blade met his aura and snapped, but the sharp shard of metal left behind near the hilt was enough to cut a deep line through his chest.

A line much deeper than the one Inhert Crimson had carved into him so long ago.

I saw - almost in slow motion - as Argus' momentum took him to the ground, the same momentum. I saw the look in his eyes, and in that moment, I know that he'd killed himself. He didn't need to turn, didn't need to take such a grievous blow. Had he kept going straight, I would have taken one of his arms at worst. Argus already knew he'd lost.

So, he made sure he lost for good this time.

As Argus' body crashed into the floor, the wind energy disappeared from my system. I staggered at the sudden feeling of weight crashed over me, returning me to my normal state. Safe, albeit a bit winded, and extremely horrified.

I ran over to Argus. His aura had crashed, and his body was beyond saving. He was barely clinging to life at this point. As I locked eyes with him, he gave me one final smile.

"T-thank you, Jaune Arc, for… giving this… coward… a warrior's death."

With that, he breathed his last.

* * *

In the aftermath of the fight, I realized three things.

One, what I'd done against Argus was highly inadvisable. I'd done dust-synchro without considering any form of mitigation. Basically, the adrenalin of the fight had almost shut down the pain I felt while using dust in such an uncontrolled manner. I'd have to practice more in order to develop countermeasures because my body was wracked by pains once the battle high subsided.

Second, I learned how amazing NZT was at keeping mental trauma at bay. I'd been perfectly unfazed as Ironwood's soldiers had cleaned up the mess me and Argus made. I'd walked myself to the landed bullhead as well, carrying Winter. I'd even delivered her personally to Jacques Schnee, even though seeing his face after what I'd learnt brought a bitter taste to my mouth. After that, my body had gone on autopilot till I crashed, and I crashed hard.

When I finally did wake up, I'd woken up on a bed that wasn't my own.

I looked around to see that I was in what appeared to be a hospital. For a second, I wondered why I was in a hospital, but then it came to me, and I realized the third and final thing.

NZT never let me forget.

I remembered everything in vivid details. Every single thing. I remembered the emotions on Argus' face, everything from his battle-loving grin to that final smile of acceptance.

I remembered his eyes, his cold, dead eyes.

I felt like throwing up. I scrambled to my feet, ignoring the pain I felt coursing through my body. I ran out of the room, completely forgetting that hospital rooms did have toilets. I ran to the closest visitor's toilet and hurled into the sink. I think I cried for a good ten minutes, looking right into the sink.

I couldn't look up, because every time I looked into the mirror, I saw Argus' dead eyes.

It took me three hours to calm down, they sent a nurse to look for me. She was respectful enough to not pry, instead asking me if I wanted to go in for a private consultation with a psychiatrist. I calmly told her I didn't want to.

I couldn't believe that the weak sound that came from my mouth was my voice.

I reached for my clothes and fished out my box of NZT pills. I fumbled with the lid, trying to get a pill out. I finally managed, but something stopped me from taking it. There it was, one pill to take away this fucking feeling that I couldn't even describe

It was a small voice in the back of my mind that stopped me.

It was just wrong. I was running from my guilt. I'd killed a man.

"You know, I wouldn't have given you that many pills if I didn't want you to use then, Jaune."

I shifted my gaze from the pill in my hand to Ironwood, who stood at the door of my hospital room with a blank expression on your face.

I shook my head. "I can't. It feels like I'm running away from something… something important."

"You should. Sometimes, it's wiser to run than to face something that is bound to end you." Ironwood replied.

"So you mean I should just forget the fact that I killed someone?" I asked.

Ironwood fucking laughed.

Before I could ask him what was so funny, he started to speak. "Jaune, if you can, by any means, forget your first kill. I'd have you become a teacher for the rest of my huntsmen. Hell, I'd have you teach me how."

I gave him a confused look, so he continued to explain.

"You'll never forget your first kill. I've seen two full generations of huntsmen mature with and under me. No one ever forgets, ever."

I gave him a nod. "How do you deal with it then?"

Ironwood shook his head. "You don't. You can't. All you can do it learn to ignore it. The worst thing you can do is justify it."

I raised an eyebrow in interest. "Why not? Justifying it might give me closure."

"No, justifying it merely gives you an excuse. Kill only when you have no other alternative." He sighed as he crossed his arms." That's the small difference between a huntsman and a criminal. They kill for their own twisted version of justice, while we kill out of duty."

"Duty sounds like a pretty convenient excuse to me, you know?" I shot back with a sarcastic smile on my face. Ironwood chuckled.

"Even off NZT, your tongue is as sharp as ever I see," he commented. "Still, there's some truth to that. The intent is a bit different though, and I'm sure you understand that."

"Yeah, I do." I answered, finally eating the NZT pill. Within seconds, the super drug went active, pushing all the trauma back yet again.

"In that case, you'll be fine." He answered. "At least that's what I'd like to believe."

"Speaking of which, you've got a visitor. It's why I'm here, actually. Wanted to make sure you're fine before you meet her." Ironwood spoke, walking back to the door. "I'll just let her in."

He left the room before I could ask who my visitor was. I didn't have to wait long to find out.

She walked in, and the first thing I wondered was why Winter had lost some of her height. I then realized that was an impossibility, and finally came to the conclusion that I was looking at Weiss Schnee. The more popular, music-oriented Schnee sibling.

"When I learned that sister had been saved by her direct superior, I was expecting someone more… well… not my age." She began. Obviously, she did not

I gave her a small smile. She was obviously on edge.

"Ah, you must be Weiss," I spoke, and she nodded. "I'm somewhat of a fan, even though I really haven't been to any of your shows." I praised, even though - truth be told - I didn't have much of an appreciation for her chosen genre. Still, it did seem to give her an upper hand, allow her to posture a bit. That was her zone of comfort, much like it was her sister's. They were so similar that it was adorable.

Not that I'd ever say that to either of them. Contrary to popular opinion, I _did_ care about my physical well being.

"That's nice, and you really haven't missed anything. My critics say that I'm much better in the studio than on the stage. I'm inclined to agree." She spoke, even though she did take the compliment.

"You can't measure an artist's art by the location of their performance," I replied, waving to a seat next to my bed. "Come, take a seat, tell me to what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?"

She did as I bid her do, politely sitting down before making to answer. "Well, sister's been at home, recovering. I had a few conversations with her, things that I've been avoiding talking to her about for a while now…" She went silent for a moment as if trying to phrase what was to be said in her mind. "I've always known my sister as the tough-as-nails huntress in training. We've always been close, but in recent years, she's been busy and I've been… adrift."

"When I spoke to her today, though, I found a change in my sister. She spoke like she'd reached some kind of _resolution_. Like she knew her place in the world. It was uncanny. She wasn't impatient, or condescending. She was patient, and - dare I say it - understanding." Weiss continued, narrowing her eyes at me. "Also, she talked a lot about you, Jaune Arc, and that got me wondering, exactly what have you done to my dear sister?"

I gave her a grin. "Well, as her leader, I gotta look after my subordinates, don't I?"

There was a silence between her, a good moment where she tried to look under my innocuous comment for some underlying meaning. She found none, so she continued.

"You're an odd person. The idea that someone my age could do half of what you did against Argus is completely bonkers. Still, you did what you had to. You saved my sister, and for that I thank you." Weiss spoke. There was a comparison somewhere in there. "Given all this, I wanted to talk to you about something."

I gave her a nod.

"I'm leaving for Beacon in a week, I plan to become a huntress like my sister." She spoke, hesitant. "My father opposes the idea, quite vehemently in fact. He pushed so much into my music career, tried to make me a household name. To him, this is an act of total rebellion."

"And why do you care about what he wants?" I asked, a blank expression on my face.

"He's my father, even though we don't always see eye to eye." She sighed.

"And you're you. You get to be whatever you want to be, and it seems you want to be a huntress." I shrugged. "Seems pretty cut-and-dry to me."

Weiss shook her head. "You don't get it, Jaune. My father is Jacques Schnee…" Weiss hissed.

"And you're Weiss Schnee. Your decisions are your own, and anyone who tells you otherwise is of no consequence." I stated with finality. "Your life is your own, your reasons for becoming a huntress, whatever they may be, are also your own."

Weiss was silent, then she sighed. Her features relaxed a bit as she gave me a half-smile. "I can kind of see why Winter's changed so much. Anyways, General Ironwood told me that you're a student of Atlas?"

I nodded. "Yeah, starting my first semester in a week. Considering you're in Beacon, we'll probably meet at the Vytal festival, provided I don't have any missions."

Weiss chuckled. "Well, that means I've got someone to catch up to, even though you seem to have had an impressive head start."

I cocked an eyebrow, "Isn't your sister enough of a goal for you?"

She gave me a grin, the kind you gave someone who didn't know something you knew. "Oh, she was, and still is. It's just that her goal and my goal are the one and the same now."

My eyes widened in terror. I'd seen the kind of single-minded determination Winter could bring to bear. To have that determination focussed on catching up with me was… not an ideal or enthralling prospect.

"That's… something." I spoke, and Weiss' grin grew. "Thanks for telling me, I guess."

Weiss shook her head. "Don't mention it. I should get going before father sends someone to retrieve me. Again. Thank you, both for saving my sister and for this little chat. It's given me much to think about."

I nodded as she left the room. She wasn't the only one who had much to mull over. Argus was very mid-tier as far as warriors went. Sure, he had a storied history, but I was to be compared to Inhert Crimson, a man who single-handedly wiped out a legion of warriors, each stronger than Argus in his prime. I needed to know what set the man apart from his contemporaries.

I needed to learn, I needed to grow so that the next time I'd have to kill, I'd have the skill and strength to save instead.

* * *

 **Adam POV**

* * *

Waking up was hell.

Sure, I was never a morning person, to begin with, but this was a different kind of fresh hell. My body ached all over, muscle groups I didn't know existed were blazing with fiery pain, like someone had put me between two gears in a clockwork contraption and given it a few quick and nasty turns.

Which brought me to the question, how was I still alive?

"Guys! Bossman is up!"

Oh, of course, that made sense.

I turned to face the familiar voice, my body screaming in agony as I did. True to my expectations, one of my underlings sat on the seat next to my bed. The sheer amount of soiled bandages in the bucket next to her gave me the idea that my bandages had been changed many times.

"How long was I out?" I croaked, probably had some damage to the throat too.

"A week, Boss." She answered, sighing. "A lot of things have happened in the time you've been out, and you're not going to like any of it."

I grunted. "Fill me in. Also, why are you calling me Boss?"

She nodded. "The order came in from the leader. You're now in charge of our outfit."

I sighed. "So, they got Argus, didn't they?"

She nodded right back.

My mind was blank. There wasn't anger, there wasn't hate. I knew they'd come, but for now, there was only acceptance. Acceptance that my life would no longer be the same. Acceptance that we'd sorely underestimated the skill and resources Atlas could bring to bear.

Acceptance that I could never trust anyone again.

Blake had been a costly mistake. The infiltrator that was Perse had been equally costly. If people like that could hoodwink Argus, who was known for his longevity, what option did I have?

"Everyone is temporary, their motivations and loyalties are fickle..." I muttered, realizing that this was the creed I'd have to live by now.

"What was that, boss?" My underling spoke. My mind was drawn to the fact that she had been nursing me back to health for the past week. If she was an agent, she could have ended me days ago and blamed it on a medical complication.

Or, she could still be an agent, building me up like the imposter built up Argus and Blake.

"Nothing." I replied, lying down on the bed again. I'd have to learn to play this game again. I'd have to become a survivor like Argus was. No one could be trusted.

Never again.

 **LB**

 **So, that was it. I had the entire Penny introduction, the Winter scene and the introduction into Atlas written, but this seemed like the most fitting plae to end this chapter.**

 **Hope ya like it.**

 **-CruelRuin**


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